The Recruiting Animal

Tony Snow Teaches Recruiters

Kris Dunn learned this from the president's press secretary:

Critics should prove they can do better
Tony criticized the president's communication policy and was willing to step in to to fix someone else's mess when asked. (Don't criticize unless you can do better?)

If you're nice, your enemies will be nice, too.
Tony took the "high road" when he could have been "chippy", so people took it easy on him when they could have attacked.

Don't feel threatened when your work is criticized
No need for a harsh counter-attack to defend yourself. Your life isn't in danger.

Be honest about what you don't know
People will trust you. Just don't be so ignorant that you're of no value.

See also: Recruiting Lessons From Tim Russert

Recruiters Should Be Like Tim Russert

Says out of the box recruiter, Vin Dieselevey

Don't interrupt. Make sure you understand the job before you claim to have the perfect person.

Start a conversation with light banter. Don't get straight down to business. Don't forget the social amenities.

Don't be so results-oriented. Be a mensch. Do your job in a nice, friendly way and make the world a better place.

See also: Tim Russert, Thin-Skinned and
We Have To Stick Together said Tim

Rudeness and Creativity

The mere thought of being on the receiving end of verbal abuse hurts people's ability to perform tasks requiring creativity, flexibility, and memory recall.
- Harvard Business Online

40% of Workplace Bullies are Women

Example:

“She gave this employee totally inappropriate assignments, setting him up to fail, and then punished him when he could not complete the assignments.... She eventually did not invite this employee to the Christmas party.” The worker finally quit.

Some of the behaviors — glaring, failing to return calls, not praising a worker — may seem trivial, but they take a toll when repeated over and over again.

“Imagine yourself sitting at a conference table and you offer something as a suggestion and someone looks at you and shakes their head every time.... It can be damaging to be constantly dismissed in front of your peers."

One danger is that people become resigned to it and say:
‘That's just what it's like around here.’

Source: New York Times

The Arrogant Truth Teller

Enemies Need Charming, Too

It would never occur to him that denouncing the prosecution won't help you win a criminal trial, even if you happen to believe that every adjective you utter is no more than the simple truth.

Anyone who suggested he calm down would have been denounced for gutless poltroonery and maybe pusillanimity as well. ....

Politics (even corporate politics) requires that you charm your enemies as well as your friends. That was beyond Lord Black's imagination. He didn't realize that unhappy shareholders required tactful handling.

He might have avoided most of his legal troubles if he had reacted with calm reassurances to disgruntled investors. Instead he gave them bluster and insults. This made them think that he had something to hide -- and made them decide that even if he were innocent, they would beat him up anyway, for the fun of it.

Robert Fulford, National Post

I have a friend like that. He is a franchisee for a large corporation. When the Area Manager or District Manager criticizes something about his operation, he fights back. Usually, he has a reasonable point and he doesn't indulge in out and out abuse in his complaints. All the same, his protests are very militant. I think he's a good businessman. But he, himself, claims that he is not well-liked by the corporate office and will not be included in any expanded opportunities for selected franchisees.

When I wonder out loud if he might be better off playing the company game, he declares that he is not that kind of guy. Okay. But, ironically, he's not really that tough. In fact, he's also a terrible whiner and complains bitterly about his mistreatment by the firm.

This suggests that his boldness is simply one aspect of someone who has a very low tolerance for stress. "Life is tough" is one of his favourite phrases. It's true that life can be tough and his solution is to complain rather than adapt.

Here's more of the same.

Politics is in the end about more than being correct on the issues. It’s about relating to other human beings, restraining one’s worst instincts at the right moment, and learning how to turn potential foes into allies.

But he has never mastered the core political skills of likeability, empathy and guile that supreme politicians like Bill Clinton or Tony Blair feel in their bones.

Andrew Sullivan on Al Gore

Don't Look Back

"She was going back, but just to get her stuff," said friend Krista Garbutt. "She was scared to go home, but she had to get her clothes and stuff."

Sometimes it's best to cut your losses and leave your valuables behind rather than return to the scene of an ongoing dispute.

Going back into the presence of someone you are fighting with seems to provide the opportunity for violence in domestic disputes.

And, since the workplace is a kind of second home, I'm wondering if, sometimes, it isn't better to stay out of sight and out of mind there, too.

Reference: National Post. Ironically, The Toronto Star published an editorial on the same day arguing, not unreasonably, that fear of such incidents was irrational.

Garbage Wisdom

“When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.” -- Positivity Blog

Really? Smarten up. Please!

The rest of the posting is all about silence. Hey, nobody likes a blabbermouth but most of us arent so keen on the silent types either. They're boring.

Moms Demonstrate For No-Limit Nursing

Details in The Toronto Star

How To Handle Criticism

Get it straight, Buster. I'm not here to say please. I'm here to tell you what to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you better do it and do it quick.

How do you handle criticism? Find the answer on Lifehacker

Bosses Not Stressed

Subordinates are.

Bosses are not stressed out, says Al Levit. Who is? The people they push around. Anyway, work is not a primary stress factor. What is? Relationship loss on the home front.

But wait! Daily hassles, like a painful commute, are more stressfull than big traumas. But, doesn't that contradict what was just said? I'm sure it doesn't and that I just don't understand.