HealthCare Voice

To Be Or Not To Be...TRANSPARENT

Transparency in recruiting is essential, yet many organizations, and their recruiters, play fast and loose with the term or ignore it altogether.

Lack of transparency in the recruitment process is one of the principle reasons that more than 50 percent of all candidates recruited from outside an organization quit, are pushed out, or are fired within the first 24 months, according to employment industry studies.

In more than 17 years in the executive search industry, I have heard candidates describe horror story after horror story regarding how the truth about a company, a job or even the compensation plan was covered up or, at times, distorted. When a frustrated candidate approached her new boss about an intractable problem that would dramatically affect her tenure – the boss replied with words to the effect:  If we had told you the truth you would not have taken the job.  If I had $10 for every time I hear that line from candidates, I would be on financial easy street.

Some CEOs and/or their well-intended but misguided minions will cover up any number of issues to avoid admitting the worst kept secret in the world:  that they have problems – from leadership dysfunction;  the bloody and brutal nature of inter-office politics; the management silos that squash innovation, drive up costs and harm patients; and the immovable barriers that stymie performance. The inventory of issues are endless.  In some organizations so is the list of problems that everyone knows but are not allowed to disclose to potential new employees.

Some organizations decry the practice of being deceived by fraudulent references but will go to great lengths to cloak the truth about their shortcomings to their potential employees.  It is as if the companies are playing a massive and costly game of “you figure it out.”  This practice is not just limited to a few complex hospitals or other healthcare service businesses.  It is a widespread problem across all sectors.

For companies who are honest about their issues, who practice full disclosure, they typically are able to recruit and employ candidates who stay longer and produce greater value. Honesty contributes to a sense of belonging for employees as well as a deep pride to be working for a company who walks the talk.

I can think of no reason for any organization to engage in a recruiting process that is anything less than completely transparent about the good, the bad and the ugly of an organization.

The upsides in this environment are endless.

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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Tis The Season: Thank You

This has been an extraordinary year. From being named the Senior Healthcare Leader of the Year for North Texas by the American College of Healthcare Executives to the very successful roll out of my new executive search and advisory firm, I have much to be thankful for.

As Christmas approaches, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank some important people who have made this year so special.

First, let me begin with you, my loyal readers.  Thank you for your support, your kind words of encouragement and, most especially, your thoughts and ideas that help make this blog better than I ever could by myself.  

For those loyal clients who have supported JohnGSelf Associates, please know that your business means so much to me.  By selecting JGSA you allow me to continue a job that I love. Your support has propelled the Firm to a level of first-year success beyond my most optimistic expectations.  From Alaska, Indiana and Louisiana to Texas, we have worked on some challenging and rewarding senior level search and advisory assignments.

To the team that has helped make this first year so enjoyable  -- from Ellen Nassberg, FACHE, in Philadelphia to Dennis Bridges, March Wiertz and Randy Guttenberger, CBA, in Texas and my video editor, Nathaniel Campbell in Florida, thank you for your patience, your support and, most of all, thank you for a job well done. 

Melanie Hoffman, founder of Brand Nu Marketing, who guided the design of our logo, web page and whose counsel was invaluable in our startup, you have my sincere appreciation and my confidence that your continued work on our behalf will move the Firm to greater success. It is great to work with a firm who shares your values on service and accountability.

To Bethany Williams of PriceWaterHouseCoopers, thank you for your constant encouragement and your support as well as your savvy advice.  You and Melanie tell me things I need to know, and sometimes do not want to hear.  Thank you for your honesty.

To former ACHE Regent, Britt Berrett, PhD, FACHE, Executive Vice President of THR and CEO of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, who was instrumental in my selection for the ACHE award, know that this incredible honor is one of the greatest thrills in a healthcare career that has taken me around the world and allowed me to meet some of the most talented and interesting people.  Very few people will ever have the chance to do what I have done, but your Regent's award will be one of the most memorable highlights.

I look forward to 2011 with anticipation and great hope.  We pledge to provide you the same quality, service and value innovation in executive search that you have come to expect. 

Merry Christmas and Thank You.

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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Common Resume Problems Frustrate Recruiters, Employers

What many executives and managers do not know about producing a credible and effective resume is frequently startling.

I spend a good part of each day reviewing resumes, and frequently complete my work with varying degrees of frustration. Many of my colleagues share this feeling.  It is not a frustration born of ridicule but the realization that these good men and women are hurting their career brand.

There seems to be an intellectual disconnect between the common knowledge that the resume is actually the first interview in the recruitment process, and the lack of clarity and specificity regarding a candidate's past jobs, their scope of responsibility and value contribution. That candidates are initially included or excluded in the search process based on their resume seems to escape comprehension by far too many executives in the job market.  

Depth and range of experience and value contribution are two of the most important facets of the resume. Lack of clarity or obfuscation --unintentional or on purpose -- are two of the most common reasons potentially qualified candidates are eliminated in this first round of candidate screening.

With the continuing high unemployment and shrinkage in the number of leadership and management positions, candidates cannot afford to submit a resume that does not clearly and concisely detail the depth and scope of experience and extols the value of their accomplishments.  When it comes to your resume, if you do not sell yourself, it is highly unlikely that anyone at the candidate screening table will rush to be your advocate.  

if you would like a free copy of an executive recruiter's resume guide, please email JohnGSelf Associates.  I would be happy to share this with you.

[email protected]

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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What Am I Doing Wrong With Career Management? Nothing and Everything

An up and coming executive expressed angry frustration with the whole recruitment process.  Called twice for attractive positions that apparently represented career advancement, each opportunity ended with the job being awarded to internal candidates who were less qualified and lower paid.

“What am I doing wrong?”  Nothing and everything.

Nothing in the sense that his resume was an excellent reflection of his career progression, his performance, and the value creation for each prior employer.  In each case, the recruiters expressed great interest and assured the candidate that he would be a perfect fit – just what the client was looking for.  He interviewed exceedingly well – no apparent mistakes.  He received assurances from several of the interviewers that, in fact, he was just what they were looking for, but in the end, the jobs were awarded to internal candidates who were less skilled, less experienced but with a lower salary target.  This leads me to the “everything” part of my answer.

The young executive had no career plan, no targeted industry on which to focus, no concept of career brand management, a narrow list of networking contacts, and a lack of understanding of how the talent acquisition process really works.  Ten years ago, his list of “have nots” would have been largely inconsequential.  Today, those deficiencies are huge.

Here are some important career management points to consider:

1.   Recruiters are focused on building a credible panel of candidates for their client – whether as a search consultant working for an external firm or as an internal headhunter.  That is how they are compensated or evaluated.  They may, or may not, have your best interests at heart.  They certainly do not work for the candidate, regardless of how friendly the relationship.  They are probably unaware, or do not care, how not being selected for a position can subtly impact your personal brand.  Candidates who look at numbers of positions are naïve if they do not believe that the “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” image will ultimately affect their career brand.
2.  Always ask if there is an internal candidate.  Recruiters do not always like to divulge that information, but you are entitled to know.  Push the envelope and try to find out if that candidate is credible or if their involvement in the search is more “political” or “for show.”  If the candidate is a strong contender, or if the recruiter is evasive, it is time to hit the brakes.  In this troubled economy, employers are less likely to take a risk with a more expensive outside hire for non C-suite positions.  Candidates can always tell the recruiter to call them back if something cannot be worked out with the internal person.  Or better yet, just decline consideration.  This can be a smart, brand-enhancing move but timing and style are everything.  However, be forewarned that it is not a good idea to treat a recruiter badly.  They have memories like elephants, and they share information internally with notes to the candidate database.
3.  Develop a career plan – the sooner the better – focusing on a specific job or a type of work that brings joy and satisfaction.  Focus on a sector or an industry segment, if possible, and begin building your networking of contacts across this spectrum.  Do not focus building relationships only with external recruiters since they handle less than 35 percent of all management and executive recruiting projects.  Keep an open mind given there is a good chance you will not end your career doing the job you thought you would always have.  Finally, allocate time every week to focus on career networking and industry research.  This is as important as staying relevant with new ideas and technological developments in your current field. This is not “your parents” job market and it is only going to become more challenging. 

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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Results or Reasons

"In life we can have results or reasons.  If you are not getting the results you want, your reasons are the lies you keep telling yourself."    

                          Harald Anders, "Be Realistic: Create a Miracle"

This applies to our careers, our performance, and our relationships.  

You can argue with this statement, Mr. Anderson wrote, "But it will be like wrestling with the wind, it will keep you busy, but you will not get anywhere."

A great friend, a genuinely nice man who I admire enormously, was frustrated by a sudden change of events. After a successful and principled tenure at a public hospital, he resigned over what he felt were troubling ethical governance issues. He went on to interview for other jobs, all without result. He was smart, intelligent and experienced. He had impressive recommendations --some of the best I have seen in my 16-plus year in executive search -- and a 25-plus year record of accomplishment in a branch of the armed forces medical service corps, however he recently decided to retire rather than endure any more unsuccessful executive searches.

When it was suggested that he hire a career coach to improve his interviewing skills my friend responded with pent up frustration, that he had been successfully advancing his career for all his professional life and did not see a need to change his style or approach at this stage of his career.  In other words, what worked in the past should apply today.

What a shame. What a loss for the hospital management industry. What my friend apparently did not consider was that his military career DID NOT prepare him for the rigors of the civilian market search process, including competitive interviewing.  

In dozens of interviews with former Army, Air Force and Navy healthcare professionals I learned that advancement in the military is based almost solely on past performance and relationships, not the actual interview with a new commanding officer. Former military officers say, almost without exception, that their success in advancing in the civilian market was due to two things: performance, and improving their interviewing skills.  

This rule also applies to executives who have risen in their careers through the civilian ranks. The rules of career management, including networking and interviewing skills, have changed dramatically over the past five to seven years. What worked for career advancement earlier in your career, probably will not be effective today. New interviewing techniques, web-based networking tools, search engines that collect and store information regarding your accomplishments or failures, and performance expectations come together to make this an entirely different game.   

In an increasingly difficult employment environment, with fewer jobs due to market consolidation and reductions in the number of leadership positions in anticipation of the impending cuts in Medicare funding, career/ personal brand management  -- exceptional performance, great presence, solid communication/interviewing skills and laser-like honesty regarding areas for self improvement -- will become indispensable qualities.  

Pushing back on this reality will only lead to early retirement or a new career. 

My friend did not see the need to make the change, but if he had, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have become an accomplished physician CEO. Do not let your ego or a stubborn streak allow others to shape your career.

That is a rule that applies to us all, not just to my friend.

"At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you."         

                                                        -- Jim Rohn

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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Unhappy In Your Job? Don't Wait Until It Is Too Late...

There is nothing worse than going to work every day and profoundly disliking what you do or the people with whom you work.  It is like a cancer that eats away at your soul.  It destroys happiness.

If you find yourself in this position, the best advice I can give is to fix the problem internally.  If that is not possible, develop an exit strategy.  Or, you may need to consider the possibility that instead of changing jobs, you may need to consider changing careers.  

You must have a plan.  People who trust that everything will work out find that everything usually DOES NOT always work out, especially when it comes to careers.  If the problem that fuels your unhappiness is systemic, one over which you have little or no control, then leaving may be the only pathway to a return to happiness. This is why you constantly network. The career network you build can be an important and confidential source of leads for a new job.

As you interact with recruiters, ask whether they are retained or contingent.  The majority of search consultants in both categories are ethical but some contingent recruiters, pressured to produce commissions, may be tempted to "shop" your resume and that is not a particularly good thing for managers and executives who must be sensitive to the concepts of personal brand management.  Be vigilant.  People anxious to get out of a job they do not like are not always in full control of their emotions.  You do not want to fall victim to a lazy or overly aggressive recruiter.  Finally, be sure they know why, in the most positive terms, you want to make a job change.  Emphasize your accomplishments and the value you delivered. Your deep-seated unhappiness is not an attribute other employers want to hear about, much less hire.

In preparing for an interview, be sure you have carefully thought out questions you want to ask to avoid finding yourself in a new job with some or all of the qualities that created the original unhappiness.  Many candidates for new jobs prolong their search because they fail to adequately prepare for an interview -- researching the target company and practicing answers to potentially troublesome questions, etc. 

Overall, the best guide for executing a transition is to use common sense. For example, do NOT respond to blind advertisements, regardless of the reputation of the newspaper or job site. You may find yourself applying to your current employer, even for your job, because if you are that unhappy, it probably shows in your performance or the relationship you have with co-workers.

We spend 75 percent of our waking hours at work. It is a lopsided allocation of time that can affect us completely.  If you are so unhappy, the consequences can be significant.  Pay attention. Do not wait to execute a job transition until it is too late, personally or professionally.  

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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Human Resource Career: Making A Meaningful Difference

I want to encourage healthcare management graduate students to explore Human Resources as a profession.  If you want to be different – I am talking about being different in a way that you can make a meaningful difference for the success of an organization – this is a leadership discipline where you can have a real impact. 

Human capital management is on the cusp of being the most essential part of the healthcare senior leadership team following finance. 

The only drawback is that I do not know how long it will take the cusp to become that essential part.  Currently, far too many human resource executives – from Chief Human Resource Officers, to Vice Presidents of HR and Directors of Personnel – are marginalized in terms of their role.  Far too many healthcare human resource professionals are buried in the organizational chart bureaucracy.  Far too few have a seat at the senior leadership table.  Fewer still are really taken that seriously. 

Several years ago, a CEO tried to make the argument that he was better served – politically and operationally – if HR did not report to him.  “There is just too much (controversy) and risk in dealing with the people issues, and I need the flexibility to make decisions regarding the best interest of the organization without worrying about the complications that invariably come when you deal with thorny people issues.” 

CEOs who are concerned about the impact of healthcare (read: payment) reform and a prolonged era of cuts in provider reimbursement should begin by building their business strategy around recruiting and retaining the best people.  They will not be able to do that without a top-tier human resource executive. 

The bad news is that there is a dearth of outstanding human resource executives in the healthcare industry, and given that healthcare leaders are traditionally loathe to go outside the industry for talent, that means that many healthcare organizations will not have access to the best and the brightest in the human capital field.

I want to encourage health system and hospital CEOs to overcome an industry-wide provincialism and recruit human resource executives from other industries.  Yes, I know there will be a learning curve, but if your organization is really committed to best-in-class human resource leadership and innovation, then your best bet may this approach.  For graduate students who decide to go into healthcare, consider a  HR residency or fellowship outside the healthcare industry.  It is a risk, I know, but I think there will be some enlightened hospital CEOs who will see enormous value in that approach and give you a chance.

As for that CEO who did not want HR reporting to him because he thought that it would give him more flexibility, he was right.  He now has a great deal of flexibility.

He is out of work.

© 2010 John Gregory Self

Hiding in Plain Sight

We pay too much attention to emergencies -- the big events -- in government, in cities, in business and in our careers.  We miss the subtle changes that drive real change.

That is how marketing consultant Seth Godin sees it. In a recent blog, Mr. Godin argues that most of society's institutions, businesses, even our careers can withstand external shocks and survive.

"No single technology destroyed the business model for newspapers...the writing has been on the wall for decades.  No single event demolished the music business.  It was a series of slow changes over the course of two decades, all the way back to the CD," he writes.

"Smoking killed far more people than terrorists, it just wasn't as dramatic."

One bad interview, one disaster meeting, a botched sales call or a terrible decision is not a game changer. "The sudden impact of one event isn't sufficient to change everything forever."

He argues that we should not worry as much about what happened last week or last month. We should stop focusing on today's hype -- the breaking news, the talking heads with their mixed bag of opinion regarding the dire consequences we face -- all of the noise.  Mr. Godin believes the frenzy of the here and now distracts us from what really matters.

"The glacial changes of years and decades are becoming more important, not less," he believes.  With advice that seems to challenge the conventional wisdom of any number of current management fads, Mr. Godin declares that we should "focus on what happened 10 years ago and think about what you can do that will make a huge impact in six months."

The subtle changes that will alter our lives -- our businesses and our careers -- are right in front of us, hiding in plain sight.

© John Gregory Self

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The Perils of Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom is a throw away term that gives leaders a false sense of security.

It lulls executives into, at best, faulty analysis and, at worst, it produces a career limiting decision.  Only when conventional wisdom victims are packing up their offices under the watchful eye of corporate security do they realize that conventional wisdom is seldom right.

Born of our own biases, experiences and rooted in that other dangerous business term, common sense, conventional wisdom is just a snapshot of previous events, successes and mistakes in which our memory of the successes are expanded and the mistakes are distorted.  Filled with misplaced confidence, these recollections produce for leaders an inviting mirage in a scorching desert.

Business consultant-author-speaker Aubrey Daniels writes that he is on a campaign to stamp out common sense in business.  He believes there is too much reliance on a concept that Webster defines as "the unreflective opinions of ordinary people," and that these "unreflective opinions are based on unanalyzed experience." He quotes the late Edward Deming, quality guru extrodinaire, who believed that experience teaches us nothing.  "If experience teaches us anything, why are we in such a mess?" Deming liked to ask.

I think we need to treat conventional wisdom for what it is: the poor and unreliable cousin of common sense.

© John Gregory Self, 2010

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Effective Communication Key to Success In Job Interviews

David was a great candidate, at least on paper.  He had the right credentials – more than was required for the position.  He had degrees from good schools.  Most importantly, he had solid experience.

True, he had moved around a bit, something that causes recruiters concern, but he had plausible reasons – to be closer to a surviving parent who was terminally ill; a new CEO wanted to bring in his own executive team; there was one mis-hire along the way; and one move was for his wife – she had been promoted and the new position was too good to pass up.

He was clearly the best qualified candidate but David had a problem that he could not overcome – he could not tell his story in an effective way.  Another candidate, with good credentials and experience, though not as extensive as David’s, was selected and David joined the ranks of the “65 percent club”, a statistically constant group of well qualified executives who lose out in a search because they do not interview well – they did not communicate effectively.  Here is what I mean:  they were not specific in answering relatively focused questions.  When asked about their weaknesses, they used the often tried but seldom believed answer, “I worked too much.”  They could not provide specific examples for where they added measurable value for their former employers.    

There are only so many interview questions and there are books upon books of the commonly asked questions.  Yet, very few candidates seem to know these books exist, much less bought one to be better prepared. 

Being an effective communicator should not be confused with being a good public speaker.  Not everyone can stand in front of 500 or 1,000 people and wow them with a Power Point presentation.  However, anyone who aspires to leadership must master the art for group meetings or one-on-one sessions. 

There are three common themes of a job search in today’s hypercompetitive job market.

1.  Rejection.  There are more candidates than there are jobs at every level.  Great candidates are eliminated – are rejected – in every job search.  Rejection hurts.  If you have been rejected enough – and most candidates in today’s market have been rejected multiple times – it can crush your spirit and affect your performance the next time you are interviewed.
2. Preparation.  The best candidates are prepared, with a great resume that demonstrates experience and success, and the confidence that comes with practice – anticipating questions and preparing focused responses then rehearsing them in front of a mirror.  Preparation includes reviewing your career history, knowing dates of tenure, names of co-workers, and information on compensation. Submitting a list of positive, articulate references is important as well.  Many candidates demonstrate a lack of preparation at least three to four times in the average interview.
3. Communication.  Candidates must be able to deliver specific facts and examples of success, or lessons learned from failures, with the calm confidence and focus that comes only from practice. 

Good leadership and effective communication are intrinsically linked.  There are examples of great CEOs who were only mediocre public speakers but in small groups and one-on-one meetings, they were the best.

Good preparation and effective communication are the keys to avoiding the pain and despair of rejection.

© John Gregory Self

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Managing References: Achilles' Heel for Many Candidates

Reference management.  This is a difficult issue for more executive candidates than most people realize.  Candidates assemble a panel of references. They talk to their references once, maybe twice, and then push the autopilot button.  

Big mistake.

Surprisingly, candidates rarely ask their references what they might say regarding questions concerning "leadership strengths" or "weaknesses."  On autopilot, they just assume their reference contact will say the right thing.  

Bad mistake.

Most executives engaged in an active job search, will identify 3 to five trusted colleagues as references. They submit those same references to five or six recruiters.  If they end up as finalists in more than one search, those references may be called four or five times.  At some point they will suffer from reference burnout. In the end, their comments will begin to drift to the realm of "damning by faint praise." 

For many candidates, reference management is hit or miss, and reference management seems to be an annoying necessity of the search process.  

Dumb mistake.

Here are some things to consider:

1.  Develop a panel of 10 to 12 references so that you can rotate them.  You do not want to wear out your supporters.

2.  Stay in touch with your references.  Let them know what position you are up for, who may be calling, and when to expect a call.

3.  Keep your reference list up to date.  I once had a CEO candidate provide me with three references.  I had asked for eight.  Two of his references were no longer employed at the company where he said I could reach them. He was the favored candidate with political juice, but in the end he was eliminated.  Why?  The board was concerned by his lack of attention to detail.  

4.  Communicate with your references.  The most frequently "botched" interview question is, "What are your weaknesses?"   Who better to help you craft a credible answer than your references?  This adds credibility.  There are other tough questions that references can help you answer, assuming you talk to them in advance.  Let them know that you want this job search to be a learning experience.  Most references will be very candid when you present it in that manner.  

5.  Secondary references can be deadly.  If you mention the name of a colleague during an interview, that person can become what recruiters call a "secondary" reference.  He or she may not be on your reference list, but that does not mean they won't be called. If you are going to be a name dropper, be sure they are people who will speak highly of you. 

6.  Relevance and quality of the reference are critical.  If you are pursuing a CFO position, and your references cannot speak to your experience as a CFO, Controller or Director of Finance, this is not helpful.  In fact, it will become a negative.  The quality of the reference also is important.  You want to identify and use references who are articulate, up-to-date on the relevant issues and who can enhance your candidacy. References who do not meet these tests will only compromise your career brand and your credibility with recruiters.

In trial law, young attorneys are taught never ask a question of a witness to which they do not know the answer in advance.    

The same principle applies to reference management.

Candidates who do not manage the reference phase of the search process are seen by recruiters and employers as being sloppy because they are responsible for giving names of people who can vouch for their abilities in a positive way.  In this competitive job search environment, the lack of attention to the very people who can help you could spell rejection. 

Candidates cannot control their competition but they can be better prepared than anyone else.

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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HEALTHCARE VOICE: New Publication Schedule Announced

There are millions of blogs.  Everyone is competing for attention. 

I am no different.  

Over the past year, I have experimented with a multiple formulas in terms of what to post, when to post and how often to post. I have monitored my readership metrics by day of week and subject matter.

With that information, I have decided to change my publication schedule.  Effective immediately HealthCare Voice will now publish on Tuesday and Thursdays at 1 AM Eastern Time.  Google will serve as my distribution channel via Email or RSS feed. 

HealthCare Voice will focus on recruiting, career management and innovative ways organizations can improve talent acquisition.  Finding and retaining top talent is critical to the success of businesses. Yet, most organizations continue to rely on a 50-year-old model -- transactional recruiting -- that is outdated given the dynamics of our new economy.  HealthCare Voice will provide valuable insight regarding strategies you can use to improve talent acquisition through the use of Transformational Recruiting.

I hope you will continue to subscribe, and share my thoughts with friends and colleagues.  I hope you will feel free to contact me with your comments and suggestions. 

© 2010 John Gregory Self

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One Life To Live

How many people can say they love what they do for a living?  Day in and day out they are passionate about the work?

Not for the money. 

Not for the mega bonus.

Not for the stock options leading to a big payday.

Not for the fame or prestige.

They do the work that they do because they love it.  They care deeply and achieve satisfaction beyond the paycheck.

About three years ago a lawyer who I admire and respect – a superb legal mind and a talented practitioner with a major Dallas firm – confided that he hated his job.  He was extraordinarily well trained at one of the best law schools in the country.  He sacrificed personally and financially to get his degree.  He edited the law review and earned academic honors.  He was one of the youngest partners at his firm.  Yet, he hated what he did.  He was miserable.  It was not the firm or the clients.  It was the profession.

Several weeks later I met him for drinks and dinner at a fashionable downtown restaurant.  There were 11 other lawyers present – partners all – representing some of the best known firms in Texas, New York and Washington.  Frankly, I was immediately struck by the New Testament significance of 12 lawyers meeting for supper, but that is another story.

The men at the table were all successful.  They enjoyed the respect of their colleagues and they each made an enormous amount of money. When I asked how many loved what they did – the practice of law, there were several moments of silence.  Eyes rolled.  Smiles were exchanged.  Then snickers turned to laughter. 

I felt like an outsider who had just been the victim of an inside joke.  Skeptical that people could work as hard as lawyers work and still not enjoy it, I asked for a show of hands.  “How many of you like what you do?  Forget passion and love for a minute.  How many of you just like what you do?”

Silence.  Then slowly, as if they were embarrassed, only four of the 12 raised their hands. 

“I hate what I do, but if I quit my wife would kill me.  She probably would divorce me.  I make a lot of money and she wants and expects the lifestyle.  I am not sure how I could earn this much money doing something else.  I feel trapped, so I tough   it out,” lamented one.

Another confided: “This is a miserable job, but I only have to do it for 25 more years and then I can retire.”

Heads nodded and more knowing smiles were exchanged.  There was a sense of resignation.  Or was it sadness?  They worked long hours, including weekends.  Their home lives suffered. They were all well paid, but they were sacrificing so much for a career they clearly did not enjoy.

If there is hell on earth, I thought, I just found it.

Fame and fortune aside, this is a cautionary alert for college graduates as well as their parents who drive their high achieving children to pursue the prestige “money” jobs.  Do not find yourself in a trendy restaurant 20 years from now admitting to a stranger that your life is a horribly painful experience.  Do what you want to do.  Do what makes you happy.  Pursue a career that, when you tell me what you do for a living, you can smile.

As the recession has taken its toll on not only the hourly wage earners but on executives, lawyers, bankers, and others not normally associated with unemployment, stories have emerged about once highly paid people putting aside their old professions to begin new ones in areas they always thought they might enjoy such as cooking, or teaching, or starting up a new company doing something they really believe in, and how happy and fulfilled they have become.

As Steven A. Cohen, the head of SAC Capital Advisors, and a man with an individual net worth of more than $6.4 billion, said recently in a Vanity Fair article, he has achieved all that he has at great personal sacrifice through two marriages and killer hours in the office.  “I have been to the top of the mountain,” he said, “and there’s not much there.”

You only have one life. 

© 2010 John Gregory Self

Executive Job Search: Action Plan for Success

Does the best team always win the important game?

No.  The team that is well prepared and executes flawlessly stands a better than even chance of winning, even against a more talented opponent.

The same principle applies to career management and the interviewing process.  In fact, our research shows that the best qualified candidate is hired only 45 percent of the time.  The qualified candidates who are well prepared and who do a better job communicating in the interviews will usually land the job.

In this increasingly difficult job market – healthcare hiring declined in June for the second month in a row – there is no substitute for preparation and flawless execution.  With some economists predicting unemployment rates of between 5 to 7.5 percent for the next seven to 10 years, the  return  to the go-go days of robust employment is not likely in the foreseeable future.

For candidates in the job market, this puts on more pressure to outperform the competition.  Here are some tips to enhance a candidate’s performance in the interview process.

• Enhance your brand.  Produce a resume that effectively promotes your brand.  Your resume is your first interview.  It must be complete and error free as well as provide a compelling reason for the recruiter to select you for further consideration.  If you are not getting interviews, then change your resume.  If you are not advancing beyond the screening interview, rethink how you are answering the questions.

For a copy of my resume guide, click here.

• Be prepared.  The telephone interview is one of the most challenging parts of the recruitment process.  Have your information immediately available including prior employments dates, beginning and ending salary, the name of your supervisor and your relevant accomplishments.  Some firms insist on having a complete chronological history of employment so be prepared to explain it.  Preparation breeds confidence and confidence is a key ingredient for success in the job search. Also, during the telephone interview are you monitoring your energy level?  Are you standing or sitting?.  Look at a mirror.  Are you smiling?

• Do your homework.  Research the target organization.  Talk to colleagues who may know people in the company.  There is a wealth of information on line about the company and its leadership team.  Learn as much as you can.  Be prepared to demonstrate this newly acquired knowledge without being critical of operational problems or marketing challenges.  Inappropriate or poorly timed use of your research can be as damning for a candidate as not being completely informed or politically insensitive.  Using this knowledge in asking questions is one way to be effective. FYI, some recruiters view a candidate’s lack of questions as disinterest in the job.

• Execute flawlessly.  Practice answering questions, particularly those that may pose a hurdle that you must overcome – lack of relevant experience, short employment tenure, prior termination, etc.  If you cannot answer those issues effectively, you greatly reduce your chances of moving to the next phase.  On the positive side, be sure that your “story” – from providing insights regarding your “growing up” years to extolling your record of accomplishment is a winning summary of accomplishments, metrics and value for the organization.  If you cannot tell your story in a compelling manner, you move down, not up, in the candidate evaluation rankings.

There is one positive thing to remember.  If you have been selected for a site interview – with the full - court press of lunches and dinners – the company is looking for a reason to hire you.  Give them one.  Do not muddle the effort with a silly mistake.  Be mindful of your presence and the surrounding environment.  There are no time-outs in the interview process, including breaks.  Lunches, dinners, and casual conversations during the commute to and from the hotel or to dinner are all on the record.  Pay attention.  Do not appear to ignore anyone at the table, even with a large group.  Do not forget your table manners or dinning etiquette.  Never let your guard down.  This is one important reason not to drink at dinner.  If the evening includes cocktails before dinner, sip sparingly.  The same applies if wine is served with the meal.

If you are not getting interviews,  if you are  eliminated before you reach the finalist chair, do not blame the overcrowded competitive market.  Look in the mirror.  

That is the person who has to step up their performance.

 ^© 2010 John Gregory. Self

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Interview Skills for a Technologically Advancing World

Technology is changing our world, especially the world of career management.

When I formed JohnMarch Partners, Inc in 1994, the wily world of the world wide web and the information super highway were still relatively new concepts for most small and medium-sized businesses.  I remember that my firm was the only corporation in Tyler, TX that was using Miscrosoft’s Outlook and the local internet provider did not know how to support it. They knew Outlook Express but not the more complex Outlook.   We became a technical support resource for the ISP.

 Videoconferencing was available at many KINKO locations, and some enterprising recruiters like my team were experimenting with its use.  Facsimile transmissions were still an important tool for recruiters since dial-up connections, which the vast majority of people relied on, were not conducive to the transmission of large document files.  Recruiters regularly received piles of snail mail letters from outplacement consultants touting the strengths of one of their newest out-of-work executives (far too many of these letters looked identical in terms of paper and content).

How times have changed.  Faxing a resume is now ancient history. Sending a resume via the postal service is all but unheard of.  Video conference interviewing is here to stay even though its value as a primary screening tool is highly questionable.   Skype is a new addition, and it will reshape how firms and internal recruiters screen candidates.  At my firm, we are beginning to use this computer video interview program for our chronological interview.  In the past, we conducted this interview on the telephone, which has its own challenges for candidates, but none as daunting as appearing on video. 

Here is the most important takeaway: Candidates who lack the computer capacity for Skype, or those who simply do not know about this emerging internet video pathway, run the risk of being eliminated from a search.  More importantly, candidates must master these video interview formats. Having a good resume and credible experience may not be enough if the candidate comes across on camera as looking nervous, awkward, or confused.  

Technological advances in recruiting will require candidates to adapt and to learn new skills, including how to master the time delay that is common in virtually all video conference connections.  These delays are similar to news satellite transmissions – a delay of several seconds from the time the interviewer asks the question to when the candidate hears its completion  .

Here is a hint for those who are scheduled for a video interview:  as you sense that the question is drawing to a close, smile and nod your head as if you are confidently anticipating the question. This will keep you from looking like a deer in the headlights.

One more thing:  when you use Skype for an interview, do not forget to put on a coat and tie (the pants are optional since you want to use a head-shoulders shot).  It is always a good idea to tidy up the room. Check the background.  You wouldn’t want the recruiter to see your laundry hanging behind you..

Don't laugh. It has happened. 

© John G. Self, 2010

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A NEW FOCUS: Executive Recruiting, Talent Acquisition & Career Management

When I began this blog some 149 posts ago, I wrote about recruiting, leadership, healthcare reform, career management, politics of healthcare, quality and patient safety, etc.  Virtually everything that touched healthcare and captured my attention made it into this blog. As a former newspaper writer, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting back into the routine of writing, and in learning about how to blog.  It has certainly helped me sharpen my focus on a range of issues.

While I enjoy the writing, and the critical process it takes to produce a blog, I am not doing this to perfect my writing skills.  I am looking for engagement.  Over time I noticed that the posts drawing the most attention and comment were not on the politics of healthcare reform, or even the substance of the legislation. Nor did readers seem too interested in thinking about what the healthcare delivery system of the future would look like.   Rather, people responded to things that mattered to them personally -- career management, how to develop and sustain networking relationships to enhance their job search, and how to be more effective in telephone and face-to-face interviews.  Hospital Chief Executives and their human relations executives were more interested in how they could reduce the costs of acquiring the talent and be more effective. 

This makes sense.  We have entered a new economy, one that will be characterized not by big growth bubbles that generate heady financial times with low unemployment and accelerating consumption that seem to bring out the worst in us, but a resetting or our economy with new expectations regarding pay, benefits and time/life balance.  We are in the midst of a resizing.  Given our national debt and the war on terror, all things economic may not return to the “old” normal for another 10 years or so.  With Medicare moving to become the big driver of our national debt, hospitals must develop a laser focus on costs.  

Human capital, the biggest portion of a hospital's expense budget and the single most important contributor to an organization's net worth, is now more important than technology. This will profoundly change the way we approach recruitment and how we manage our talent.  For healthcare workers, career management and job searching skills will be more important as health systems resize to reduce costs.

As I thought about those issues over the weekend, I realized that while I had written numerous blogs on executive recruiting, talent acquisition and management as well as career management, there is much more to cover and there is a great interest in these subjects.

I encourage you to submit your suggestions for blogs as well as your questions on everything from recruiting strategies to resume construction, how to prepare for interviews and how to make each new hire a valued and productive asset sooner rather than later.  

If you want to email me, write to: [email protected].  Or you can post a comment or question at this site. 

 © John G. Self, 2010

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MEMO TO LEADERS: There is No 'Magic Lottery'

I bought a lottery ticket last night.  For me it is a whim, a flight of fancy that I take every week or so knowing, of course, that my chance of winning is so statistically remote, that my decision to fork over a dollar bill is nothing more than my paying another tax to the coffers of inefficient government.

However, at the instant we buy the ticket, most of us experience, if ever so briefly, the “what if” moment where we think about all the good we could do, or all the things we could buy, if we actually won.  But alas, most of us know the truth.  The odds are so stacked against us that our chance of winning is far worse than one in a million, and that is bad enough.  The closest any of us will ever get to that jackpot is that ever so brief “what if” moment.  So, last night I felt the compelling urge of the whim, and stopped into a nearby convenience store and bought another statistically unlikely chance.  

On Sunday morning, as I looked through my overnight emails, I read Seth Godin’s very popular blog that seemed to scold me for actually acting on my impulse.  Mr. Godin, an innovative marketing consultant, best selling writer, adept self-promoter and 
author of the 15th most popular blog on the Internet, used our hopes of winning the lottery as a metaphor to expose a major failing in our present-day value system – the idea of the magic lottery to achieving success while bypassing all the tough blocking and tackling required to build a successful enterprise. 

Starbucks did not become Starbucks as the result of an Oprah Winfrey endorsement or being blessed by a Warren Buffet investment, Mr. Godin points out.  “No, they plugged along.  They raised bits of money here and there, flirted with disaster, added one store then another, tweaked and measured and improved and repeated.

“Day by day, they dripped their way to success.”

Today we are seeing a wave of young entrepreneurs and corporate executives in a hurry for success and the financial rewards to which they feel entitled.  They are looking for a shortcut to the top –the magic lottery. 

Godin’s experience, insight, and his own route to amazing success, provide a dose of reality.  “Better, I think, to avoid wasting a moment of your time hoping for a fairy godmother.  You are in a hurry and this is a dead end.”

Shortcomings, he points out, “are rarely reliable or particularly short…”

Today there is a veritable rush for the quick, simple, and painless solution.  We seem to want our problems solved in the same amount of time it takes for a 30-minute TV show to resolve its stars’ pressing crisis of the episode.  Our lifestyles need to be, apparently, as carefree and seemingly perfect and rich as those of our designated pop personalities of the moment. 

We face a crush of problems, from oil spewing into the Gulf wrecking a way of life, to the ongoing threat of another terrorist attack, to serious challenges in healthcare, to an epic deficit crisis.  Accountability is on the decline while greed is on the rise, and our leaders are more focused on politics as usual -- issuing damaging if not disingenuous sound bites and winning the next election cycle – than crafting creative solutions brought from actually engaging in the process of governing.

Now Mr. Godin provides us with an inconvenient reminder that in business as in life there is no magic lottery. 

If there is to be a next “Greatest Generation” the Baby Boomers and their offspring had best get busy. 

Mr. Self is the President and Founder of JohnGSelf Associates, Inc., a healthcare executive search and human capital advisory services firm in Dallas.  He has represented clients recruiting from Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and North America

A highly rated speaker, Mr. Self has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, 16 years in executive search, and his record of talent selection is one of the best in the industry.

He is the 2010 Regent Award winner as the senior healthcare leader of the year in North Texas, an honor bestowed by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

© John G. Self, 2010

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Anger, Fear and Hopelessness in the Job Search

As an executive recruiter I receive dozens of calls each week -- executives who have lost their job are scouting for a new opportunity.  They want help.

My practice model is client retained.  This means that I work for clients, not candidates. To put it bluntly, candidates are, in essence, the inventory in a profoundly unfriendly process where most executive recruiters serve as the client's advisor/broker.  The way traditional search is practiced, it is more like a real estate transaction than anything else is.

I try to find the time to talk with these callers.  Frequently, it is late in the day, often on Friday afternoons when my work/telephone call volume is lower, and occasionally at night or weekends.  Over the years, I have noticed that their reactions fall into predictable patterns of conversation:  

Some are angry.

Others are scared.

The vast majority are confused by the "new normal" in the recruitment/employment process.

While I generally cannot help them with a specific search, I do try to provide some moral support, advice on resume development, interviewing hints and direction for career/brand management.  Yes, this takes time away from my business development and search practice activities, but one of the reasons I entered this business was to help people.  Therefore, this commitment is not immediately financially based.  Besides, I find that I get an enormous amount of emotional good out of these telephone conversations..

When you think about an executive's fear, it is typically grounded on two compelling issues: anxiety on how they will continue to meet their monthly financial obligations, and, the fact that there are literally dozens, sometimes hundreds, of job applicants for each job.  Executives are overwhelmed by these seemingly insurmountable odds.  They are fighting against a sense of hopelessness. 

This is where I have to take control and tell them to stop.  They cannot look at each job opportunity from the macro level.  That will be self-defeating.  There are just too many candidates for too few jobs.   Instead, I argue, they must focus on telling their story as effectively as possible.  They must be compelling in outlining their strengths and their successes.  They must be clear how those will generate value for their new employer.

Going forward, executives must become exceptionally perceptive career brand managers.  Being a good executive is simply not enough.

Onboarding expert George Bradt provides some excellent advice.  Read this blog, and review others he has written.  They will provide a measure of insight and comfort that will create a foundation for future success.  

Reboarding with Confidence.

Reboarding with Confidence

Mr. Self is the President and Founder of JohnGSelf Associates, Inc., a healthcare executive search and human capital advisory services firm in Dallas.  He has represented clients recruiting from Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and North America

A highly rated speaker, Mr. Self has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, 16 years in executive search, and his record of talent selection is one of the best in the industry.

He is the 2010 Regent Award winner as the senior healthcare leader of the year in North Texas, an honor bestowed by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

© John G. Self, 2010

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Relationships Are More Important Than Being Right When Onboarding

For emerging executives -- early careerists --Onboarding guru George Bradt's blog today at "Better Results Faster" is spot on.  

 As I interview young executives, I frequently hear them talk about the mistakes they made early in their careers when challenging the corporate conventional wisdom or those strategic decisions that seem wrong.  "Relationships Are More Important Than Being Right When Obboarding"  is a valuable read.  George provides a first-person illustration how young executives can respond.

A very important takeaway:  

"If the other person changes his or her mind, great.  If not, do it their way.  Any argument you win in your early days is likely to be a Pyrrhic victory.  Instead of trying to win, find ways to help others be right, get right or stay right."

Relationships are more Important than being Right when Onboarding.

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Lying When The Truth Would Have Worked

In her Sunday column "Lies As Wishes," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd details the misadventures of executives and politicians, in this case primarily the latter, who enhance their accomplishments to strengthen their position with the voters.   Ms. Dowd,  paraphrasing T. S. Elliott when he wrote that memory mixes with desire, concluded,  "Politicians get into trouble when desire nixes memory."

Truth is that while politicians are the most visible offenders of this maxim, executives and managers seeking a new job are hardly immune.   Resume enhancement --exaggeration of accomplishments or credentials -- remains a growing problem in our hyper-competitive job market.  Regrettably, I believe, it will only get worse.

"These cases are never merely about words," Ms. Dowd wrote.  "They are more profoundly about identity."  She finds support for her thesis in the words of Bella DePaulo, psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara:

"I think lies are like wishes," Dr. DePaulo said.  "So when you wish you were a certain kind of person that you know you are not and maybe you are not willing to do what it would take to become that kind of person, or can't go back, it becomes tempting to lie."

The tragic lesson is that far too many leaders -- in government and in business -- will lie, spin, shade the truth or whatever term you would like to employ, when the mere truth would have carried the day. 

Some people, my grandmother liked to say, will climb up a tree, hang by their heels and lie when it would have been easier -- and a lot less risky -- to stand toe-to-toe, face-to-face, and tell the truth.  

At a time when voters and employees thirst for truth -- even when it makes them uncomfortable -- we are developing a national culture based on spin and the enhancement of facts or circumstances.

I once interviewed a candidate who, up front, admitted to spending 90 days at the Betty Ford Center.  His treatment was prompted by an over abundance of caution -- to understand and control what he thought might be an emerging reliance on alcohol.   He loved his family and his profession and did not want to risk either.  After a detailed vetting process, including interviews with his counselor and an intensive review of public records, he got the job and went on to perform brilliantly in a large public hospital.

His admission of a personal  flaw made him authentic.    It was easier for him to stand face-to-face and tell the truth.  

He didn't need to embellish.  That is a practical lesson for job seekers and politicians.

Now a more interesting question:  how do you know which candidates you are recruiting are telling the truth and which ones are enhancing their hiring chances? 

Is your screening process sufficiently robust to distinguish between the two?

© John G. Self, 2010

______________________________________________

Mr. Self is the founder of JohnGSelf Associates, Inc., an executive search and advisory services firm in Dallas.  He has extensive experience in recruiting in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North America. 

 A highly rated speaker, Mr. Self has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, 16 years in executive search, and his record of talent selection is one of the best in the industry.

He is the 2010 Regent Award winner as the senior healthcare leader of the year in North Texas, an honor bestowed by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

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It Is Time To Dump The Transactional Recruiting Model

 We face three challenges in the healthcare talent management equation: 

1. A series of changes related to healthcare reform 
2. Waves of new balanced budget act-styled cuts in reimbursement that will test the ability of hospitals and physician practices to survive
3. An outdated recruiting process model that is not up to the task to find the quality of leaders necessary to successfully confront these changes

If we only had to deal with the recently passed healthcare (payment) reform legislation, that would be like a walk in the park.  We are, after all, an industry whose leadership is among the most adept adapters in any business sector.  But there will be more.  With skyrocketing budget deficits fueled in large part by high healthcare costs that stretch the Medicare program, it would be unrealistic for hospital CEOs and physicians not to expect a series of balanced budget act cuts that will squeeze out additional savings. 

 Medicare is not sustainable in its current form.  Everyone in Congress knows it, but that was conveniently not part of the healthcare reform debate.  Things are getting so bad that the US government will not have the money to pay the bills in about 10 years, according to David Walker, President of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former Comptroller General of the United States, unless it makes dramatic changes in the portfolio of benefits and the amount of money it pays to healthcare providers.  Absent that, the treasury department must borrow 100 percent of every dollar that is paid to hospitals and physicians, piling on the already  out-of-control national debt.  Ironically, some industry analysts believe these types of reimbursement cuts will probably lead to more structural reform than anything Congress might have the courage to attempt.  If you cut enough money out of the system, these analysts posit, hospitals and physicians will be forced to make dramatic and cost-saving changes in delivery systems in order to survive.

Only the best leaders and managers will be able to clearly anticipate the dramatic changes before they arrive at the front door of our U.S. hospitals and physician practices.  Only the best will be able to create new strategies and new solutions on the fly.  So, there is an important connection between the financial mayhem that is certain to occur over the next seven to 10 years and the strategies we use to recruit and retain the best people

 Unfortunately, the current recruiting business model used by the majority of search firms, outsourcing companies, placement agencies, and internal recruiting departments is on its last legs and cannot deliver the desired results. 

 Transactional recruiting that is in use today by the majority of search firms and internal recruiters has been around for more than 50 years.  There have been some marginal improvements in terms of technology – the introduction of web-based psychological or behavioral profiling, facsimile transmissions, computerized searchable databases, email, videoconferencing, and Skype, for example, but the basic candidate recruiting process and business model remain the same.  Recruiting is one of only two or three industries that have not experienced a business transformation.  And if clients and their  recruiters need any proof that change is needed, look at the various studies that show that the "stick rate" -- the average tenure of someone recruited from outside an organization -- is  unacceptable:  40 percent of senior level candidates leave, are pushed out, or are fired within 18 months, according to a Heidrick & Struggles internal review of 20,000 of their searches (Financial Times, March, 2009). This is not an anomaly at Heidrick.   Other surveys show similar results at all levels, in all industries.

 The time has come for the recruiting industry to seriously look at its weaknesses.  Transactional recruiting models must be replaced with more accountable, outcome-oriented processes with consequences for those who provide the service. 

 The following statements characterize the transactional model:

• Order taking orientation
• Lack of understanding of the costs of failure
• Divided responsibility (identification and selection)
• Lack of transparency
• Poor communication with candidates
• Don’t rock the boat mentality
• Marginal accountability
• No financial fear of failure
• In summary:  NO PARTNERSHIP

 There can be no partnership without shared risks, which includes financial responsibility.  This is one key element that distinguishes transactional from transformational recruiting.   While transactional recruiting is not an ideal process for the challenges we face, there will be no rush to change.  Why change?  There is currently no economic incentive to do so. 

But the storm clouds of change are forming.

On Wednesday I will introduce you to a new approach, transformational recruiting, that will produce superior results in these challenging times.

Next:  Transformational Recruiting

---

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Leadership Versus Adaptation: Real Challenge for Healthcare Executives

Every continuing education conference almost always provides one, two, three, or more “takeaways” – great ideas worth further study and analysis.  For me, there were two at the recently concluded annual Congress of the American College of Healthcare Executives in Chicago. 

First, that genetic testing will ultimately become a standard of care and that change will lead to Americans leading longer lives – the first person to live to be 125 in America has probably already been born – and second, that healthcare executives must rise to meet a new standard of performance in the overhaul of the American healthcare system:  to become leaders of change in America, not adept adapters to new government regulation.

 The latter takeaway came from NPR reporter and Fox News analyst Juan Williams who delivered   an engaging and charming message regarding change in America.  Speaking two days following approval by Congress of the first major legislative overhaul of the healthcare insurance system in decades, Mr. Williams challenged the healthcare industry to improve the system through leadership. 

His message was on target.  Healthcare leaders, an industry analyst once wrote, are “…on one side strongly resistant  to change concerning all things financial or regulatory and on the other are among the best executives in the world in figuring out how to adapt to what they believe are onerous rules.”

I believe that Mr. Williams was suggesting to his ACHE audience that the next round of change, which will be driven by huge Medicare induced deficits, must eventually focus on thorny issues like aggressive case management (read: rationing) and end-of-life care where so much of our Medicare dollars currently are spent.  His implication was that these more challenging structural healthcare reforms would be better handled by healthcare professionals not the self-serving members of Congress who make policy (read: political) decisions with one eye always on the next election cycle.  At one point in his speech Mr. Williams quipped, “It was so cold in Washington this winter that members of Congress were walking around with their hands in their own pockets.”

Can anyone possibly imagine Congress deciding difficult decisions involving complex ethical issues? 

 Special Note: To all my many colleagues in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) who commented on this blog during the recently concluded annual ACHE Congress in Chicago, I am profoundly grateful for your words of praise, your encouragement, your ideas and even your disagreements with a point of view.  Thank you for your readership.

 Mr. Self is the founder of JohnGSelf Associates, Inc., an executive search and advisory services firm in Dallas.  He has extensive experience in recruiting in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North America.  A highly rated speaker, Mr. Self has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, 16 years in executive search, and his record of talent selection is one of the best in the industry. 

He is the 2010 Regent Award winner as the senior healthcare leader of the year in North Texas, an honor bestowed by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

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Tough Ethical and Policy Challenges

Continuing education is one lifeline for personal and professional growth.  I just attended the American College of Healthcare Executives annual Congress in Chicago.  While I was there primarily to serve as a faculty member, I got a chance to sit in on several sessions. 

One interesting take away came from global healthcare futurist and consultant Dr. Virginia Richardson of HealthCiertO who predicted that once the declining cost of genetic risk testing fell  
 to $350 it would become a standard of care for all Americans to know their risks for serious or even life-ending disease.   With increasing numbers of Americans using their results to address personal health risks, and with dramatic improvements in treatment technologies to mitigate those conditions, we will see a significant extension in the average life span. 

Then Dr. Richardson made an astounding statement:

"The first American who will live to be 125 has already been born," she predicted.

After letting this amazing factoid sink in, and since I was at a meeting for hospital and healthcare executives, I began to realize that this eventuality will pose significant ethical and moral challenges for hospitals, Medicare, Social Security, and corporate retirement plans. 

In a nation where our political and policy debate is becoming so polarized, how will we be able to address these very difficult issues?  The way we conduct the nation's business today -- with vitriolic finger-pointing debates with the next election cycle as the most important outcome -- seems so inadequate when you consider the seriousness of the moral and ethical challenges that this type of technological breakthrough will deliver.

Should healthcare leaders be content with our traditional role of adapting to the change or should we emerge as the leaders for this and other critical debates?  How will issues like this reshape the leadership competencies of our next generation of  healthcare leaders?

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WARNING FOR JOB SEEKERS: Beware of the Vultures

Times are tough.  The number of executives who remain out of work is staggering.  They are, understandably, concerned.   Some are scared.  Others are panicked.  You cannot blame them. Many people are at risk of losing everything they have worked a lifetime to accumulate.

Working from posh offices, Vultures posing as career counselors and coaches are luring  out-of-work executives with phony job interviews.  It is a scam.   Here is how it works:   The executive receives a call from a "Gina" or "Jan" -- personable and engaging assistants -- telling the out-of-work executive that their name surfaced in research and that the Senior Vice President or the Partner would like to interview them for a top-paying job that seems to fit their profile perfectly.   When the executive arrives, he receives a little career insight about his resume or experience but, in the end, the meeting turns into a  full-court press to have them sign up for job placement -- usually for a fee ranging from $5,000 to $6,500 as was the case last week in Houston.  These people call themselves coaches, career counselors or some other catchy current title of the month but what they really do is take people's money and produce very little in return.

These "career coaches" have been at this "game" for a long time, and they are good at it.  They are not to be confused with the thousands of outplacement counselors and career coaches -- certified or not -- who provide a legitimate service with real value.  No, these people work for franchises of a company that traces its history back to the late 194os and which, for many years, provided a legitimate service, for a fee, to people who were looking for a job.  However, along the way, some investors and executives with questionable pasts, hijacked the concept and they are hurting desperate executives and the reputations of honorable career consultants.

They justify their fees by saying that their "secret database" costs more than $200,00 a year to maintain.  Some even suggest they know about jobs that no one else knows about, prompting one career counseling victim to call it "the phantom job market."  In another case, an information technology manager, skilled in managing software developers, was told by "Gina" that they were calling about a great job with Hewlett Packard.  They set up a screening interview with the Senior Vice President of the counseling company  for the next day and the unsuspecting candidate walked in to a high pressured sales pitch to pay $5,500 to get access to HP's job.  If the candidate had only searched the HP website, he would have seen a description for a position that sounded almost exactly the same.  They even encourage candidates who are strapped for cash to borrow from their children, relatives or friends.

If you fall for the pitch and sign their contract, there is little anyone can or will do to help you get your money back.  The contracts are virtually airtight, one state attorney general said.  Some agreements even have non-disclosure clauses that preclude the duped job seeker from disclosing any of the company's information.  

How do they get the candidate names?   The Vultures, like legitimate recruiters, use job boards to find their targets which suggests that candidates should think twice about posting their career information in hopes of landing a job.  What they are really inviting are telemarketing calls and email spammers.

So, if you hear from "Gina," "Jan," or some other assistant -- they are usually women -- with a friendly personality, slow down and start asking questions:

• Ask how did you got your name
• Ask for specifics about the position:  location, salary range and scope of responsibility, for example.  If it is a legitimate recruiter, the person making the call should be able to validate that it is a real job.  If they cannot, then why waste your time?
• Ask for information about the company the caller represents -- its history or whether they are a search firm or a career counseling operation.  The latter is perhaps the biggest indicator of a sales pitch in the making

Outplacement consultants are paid by the employer and it is almost always a component of the severance package.  It is better to find one who is industry specific.  Legitimate executive or career coaches  are not necessarily experts at helping candidates find a job.  If you are out of work, and you feel the panic building,  fight the temptation to want to believe some salesman's glib pitch.  If you cannot find a colleague in your sector who has heard of, or been contacted by "Jan" or "Gina," or has heard of the organization's name, then, as my grandmother used to say:  "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

For all those legitimate counselors and coaches, pay attention.   Your industry's reputation is being tarnished by skunks who prey on people's fears and vulnerabilities.  

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A Cautionary Tale for Healthcare Leaders: GM's $48 Billion Talent Strategy Mistake

In his book Why Smart Executives Fail, Sydney Finkelstein provides an excellent example of what can happen to a company when they forget that, in the end, it is employees who will make the difference between success and failure.

Healthcare providers, in the throes of evaluating their strategic options in the face of increasing competition and impending healthcare reform, must look at their employees – particularly executives and managers – to determine whether they have the right people to deal with the consequential changes.  They must examine whether the skills of their team match up with the demands of new strategy.  Do the executives and managers have the depth of experience to succeed if, for example, you require them to be more entrepreneurial in how they grow revenue?

A spectacular strategic misstep at General Motors more than 25 years ago provides an excellent example of what happens when you focus on strategy and not the people.

In the 1980s, Roger Smith, GM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, was frustrated,  Finkelstein wrote.  He faced two thorns in his side:

“First, low-cost, high quality Japanese imports were starting to gain a foothold in the U.S. Market.

“Second, GM’s labor relations were horrible.  What to do? The questions Mr. Smith asked aren't hard to reconstruct.  What was the biggest expense on GM’s balance sheet?  Workers.  Who prevented increased operation speeds by threatening to strike? Workers. Who made the production line errors that resulted in defective cars?  Workers.  Who made life difficult for managers by refusing to do what they were told?  Workers.”

“Bold, brilliant in its simplicity and, in retrospect, more than a little loony,” Smith's solution was to solve all of his problems at once by eliminating his workers.  Robots could work night-and-day with no wages, no complaints, no strikes, and no worker errors.

But there was a fatal flaw in this if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is strategy to turn back the Japanese auto invasion and return GM to global dominance.  Instead of installing the lean manufacturing techniques that made the use of robotics more effective and, to this day still defines how Toyota operates, GM’s senior team focused on the idea that robots would make their life easier and profits more robust.  This obsession with machines over people led to what manufacturing engineer Charles McElyea described as “automated confusion” and fueled GM’s spectacular demise which ended in 2009 with a humiliating government bailout and forced bankruptcy just to stay in business.

When you leave people out of the strategy equation, you are in effect pouring gas onto fires of failure. 

The question for healthcare leaders who are facing a critical point in our industry’s future is whether they match the demands of their market and the strategies necessary to survive with the skills of their workforce.  Mr. Smith learned a $45 billion lesson.  He focused on a strategy, not the real problems that threatened his organization.

Far too many healthcare organizations are traditional top-down, command-and-control operations.  That management approach does not foster strong middle managers, and market conditions that require rapid response to strategic shifts, will have significant financial and clinical consequences. 

As healthcare organizations review their strategic options, the Chief Executive and Chief Human Resource Officers need to plan for an enterprise-wide systematic evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses and skills of the existing team – from the executive office to shift supervisors to determine whether they can adapt.

This cannot be a one-time exercise.  It should become, at a minimum, an integral part of the organization's quarterly operations review.  While the dashboard data is important, if you focus only on those metrics you will miss equally key indicators of your future success or failure.

 Our team is in the business of designing processes to evaluate executives and managers.  We can take your existing system and convert it to an enterprise-wide program faster, better and at less cost than the average health system, hospital or large physician group practice. 

GM’s Mr. Smith lost focus.  It was an expensive lesson.  During the time that automation was touted as THE ANSWER to all their corporate woes, production costs actually increased.  For the $45 billion he invested in automation in hopes of defeating the Japanese invasion, GM could have bought both Toyota and Nissan, according to one analysis.  

 John G. Self is Chairman and Senior Client Advisor of JohnMarch Partners.  He is a Co-Founder of the Firm.  

With more than 30-years of healthcare leadership experience in public relations, national marketing, business development and as Chief Executive Officer of hospitals and consulting firms, Mr. Self is highly regarded for his keen insight into operations, business culture and for his ability to consistently select the right leaders.

John is a highly rated speaker on inspirational leadership, career brand management and the future of healthcare in America. To learn more about his presentations, you can reach him at JohnMarch Partners.

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