Inspired Leap - You are far more brilliant than you think you are!

• Quote of the Month
• Upcoming Speaking Engagements
• What Lies Within You?
• Which Assessment is Right for You?
• Hiring? Why It's Critical to Know Who You're Bringing Into Your Company
• Inspired Leap Reminders
• Final Thoughts on Learning What Lies Within

What drives you? What sets you off? These are only a few of the questions that are critical for you to know about yourself, your boss, your co-workers, and your friends and family. Miscommunication runs rampant in organizations and families because each of us sees and experiences the world differently. No matter how much you think you understand the perspective of another, there’s a strong possibility that you just don’t get it.

I recently had a miscommunication with a friend and associate. A series of emails about an issue led to complete frustration on both of our parts. Only an awareness that we both think very differently kept the two of us from expressing angry words that can't be taken back. As each explained what she meant, it was hilarious to see that we were talking about two very different issues from two very different perspectives. I’m sure you can think of numerous conversations or situations that led to serious miscommunication, so read on to be inspired to take some time this summer to better understand yourself and key people around you.

An Intuitive Intensive at Lake Austin Spa Resort: NEW DATE: September 21, 2006, 9:00 am – 3:00pm, with spa treatment immediately following. (Visit Inspired Leap to sign up now. Early Bird pricing ends August 15, 2006.)

The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, thought it was critical to "know thyself." Mentors, coaches, and personal and professional gurus tell us to "play to our strengths" and to eliminate negative beliefs that are hindering our professional growth. Whether you’re on a personal quest to find yourself, you're working on your resume, or you're searching within for the old beliefs that stop you from achieving your dreams, chances are you understand the power of knowing who you are and why you do what you do. And lazy, warm summer days and nights are perfect for taking some time to learn more about the most fascinating person in the world—you!

Each and every one of us is brilliant. We have unique talents and abilities that others only dream of. But we also have at least one or two imperfections or blind spots! And, it is those blind spots—both positive and negative—that can cause us to go off course on our path to success. Assessments can provide a unique perspective on your personality traits, strengths, and challenges, and help you to see—sometimes for the first time—what some of your blind spots might be. And, as an employer or manager, they can help you avoid making a costly hiring mistake or repeated communication blunders.

Today, technology, creative thinking, and continual research on the brain have conspired to create a multitude of ways to quickly take a peak at what’s going on inside our minds and hearts. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was my first experience at participating in an assessment and sharing the results with coworkers, and I imagine many of you are aware of what your "type" is. While helpful in understanding how differently we each see the world, Myers-Briggs is only one of the many valuable assessment tools available to each of us personally and professionally.

You might have already been exposed to some assessment tools via a coach, career counselor, or as part of a leadership assessment within a company. Even so, it can be overwhelming to think about which, if any, assessments are right for you. To learn more about different types of assessments and their benefits for individuals and companies, I turned to a friend and colleague, Barbara Metzger of Maximize (maxproductivity.com). For individuals looking to take their career to the next level or to consider a new career direction entirely, Metzger recommends combining two or three profiles to obtain a complete picture of who you are, what motivates you or makes your heart sing, and what your core personality traits are.

Managing for Success and the Managing for Success - PIAV (Personal Interest Attitudes and Values) are two assessment tools that when combined give you insight into what really drives you, how you interact with others, why you make the decisions you do, and the motivational filters for those decisions. Importantly, while the assessments and the summary reports are valuable, their value to you increases immeasurably when you receive an excellent qualitative verbal summary from the coach or person offering the assessment.

If you are looking to make a career change, Metzger also recommends that you add the Total View assessment, as it will tell you how quickly you process information and whether or not you really prefer to work with people, data, or things. Plus it calls out 16 personality traits that can help you get clear on what sort of environment you prefer to work in and the types of people you prefer to work with. You can then customize interview questions to help you discern if a potential company is a good fit for you. Just as they are interviewing you, you have a right to ask thoughtful questions to determine if you'd be happy working for them.

Another powerful assessment used within companies, but available to individuals as well, is Assess. It’s similar to TotalView, but the individual assessed can be measured against a list of core competencies the company or individual requires. If, for example, you knew that a key requirement for your career success included the ability to communicate cross-culturally, then your assessment could check for that ability.

Working with someone like Metzger to do these assessments (all questions are answered online) will run you anywhere from $165 to $500, depending upon how many assessments and how much detailed feedback you want on the results. The assessments Metzger ran for me were helpful in clarifying why I struggled in dealing with certain types of people and why I avoided facing some challenges. I’ve since used more of the general feedback to help me tailor my workshops and speeches to a variety of learning styles, not just those I’m most comfortable with.

If you feel there is something about your style or way of working that is getting in your way of achieving the success you want, don’t wait for someone else to tell you to get an unbiased assessment. Seek it out on your own. The light it shines on who you are might be just what you need to make a powerful leap in your performance and job satisfaction.

The cost of turnover is estimated to be as low as 4% of an employee’s annual salary and as high as twenty times their salary, depending upon the level of the position and how easy it is to fill, according to Metzger. She says that for most small to mid-size companies, the cost is somewhere between 23 and 35% of the annual salary. Even if you only need to hire a personal assistant, you might think twice before deciding to hire only on the resume, interview, and your "gut" reaction.

As much as I’m a proponent of listening to your intuition, it can be hard to discern whether or not it’s really your intuition recommending that you hire someone or simply that the individual is so like you that you can’t help but think they’d be a great fit. Assessments can be extremely helpful in determining who will really show up for work after all of the interview performing or dating is done!

Metzger recommends that companies carefully consider the core competencies needed for the position being filled, as well as the environment the new hire will be expected to work in. She strongly prefers working with a company that has Managing for Success assessments done for the hiring manager before the position is posted. That way she’'ll know what personality traits are best for blending with the work style of the boss. Even if a candidate has all of the skills needed for the job, without the right complimentary personality, a new hire can turn out to be a disaster.

When creating a job ad, give consideration to those core competencies and the types of individuals you want to attract (Metzger actually helps companies write more compelling ads to help attract in the right candidates). Use those core competencies to come up with a list of key interview questions and have the final two or three candidates complete an appropriate assessment online. Depending upon the results of the assessment, Metzger may recommend that you definitely do not hire the candidate, suggest that you have another short interview to focus on particular "hot" spots that came up in the assessment, or to hire based on the combined input of the resume or skill set, gut-feel, and interview results.

Regardless of the outcome of any assessment, it will give you valuable insight into whether or not a candidate is going to fit within your organization. Given the costs of turnover in dollars, time, and mental stress on all involved, it's hard not to consider the $125 to $450 (for more senior positions) investment worth it.

If you decide to use assessments within your company or personally, Metzger recommends that you consider the following when selecting a vendor:

While I've focused this month’s newsletter on the value of assessments, the main point is to take the time and make the effort to truly understand yourself and those around you. Gaining clarity on your preferences and why you do what you do can have tremendous payoff for you.

When A.G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, spoke to the graduating class of Harvard Business School in 2005, the number one recommendation he gave to them was "to know yourself." He said understanding who he was and what he valued helped him immeasurably on his rise to the top at P & G. Who knows what taking the time to know yourself could do for you?

Inspired Leap Reminders are areas of focus and part of the Inspired Leap Approach to maximizing productivity, creativity, and morale. In each newsletter, we take a look at how the topic of the month might be viewed in the context of these important areas of focus. Or, in some cases, we use the section as a gentle reminder to pay attention to these concepts in our daily lives.

Responsibility: People have been accused of being narcissistic and selfish for spending time learning; yet, doesn't each one of us have the responsibility to be our best? Most of us want to believe we came here for a reason and that we have a mission in life, no matter how small. To fulfill our mission we need to understand what our true gifts are, what are weaknesses are, and how to best share our gifts with others.

Creativity: To fully access our creative potential, each of us needs to be doing work and living a life that is fully aligned with our values, personality, and strengths. In addition, when we have no fear of exposing our weaknesses (because we fully understand what they are and acknowledge them), then we lose much of our fear of accessing and expressing our creativity. With the rapid pace of change in the world, it behooves all of us to find out "what lies within us," adjust our work and lives accordingly, and begin to express our creativity to manage the changes coming our way.

Detachment: One of the most difficult challenges in the world is to look at oneself with detachment and consciously acknowledge, without emotion, both the strengths and weaknesses within our personalities. One of the benefits of participating in assessments is they can help with this process, as can a good coach. When we are able to truly look at and accept who we are, then we can begin to play to our strengths and accept constructive criticism. Both abilities are key to achieving success.

Forgiveness and Kindness: When we begin to understand that coworkers, friends, and family really do have different filters affecting their view of the world, then it becomes much easier to forgive and to practice kindness when miscommunication occurs. Given how our beliefs and personalities affect our perceptions, it’s amazing that we get along so well! Think about that the next time you're certain someone deliberately set out irritate you or embarrass you. It might be true or it might be that they had no idea what they said or did would affect you the way it did.

Resistance to Change: When you know yourself well you can catch the little lies you tell yourself to keep from making important positive changes. It doesn’t mean the resistance still won't be there, but it does give you a fighting chance to create new habits that outwit the part of you that doesn’t want to make any changes, even good ones.

Heed the words of Emerson and Socrates and take time to learn what lies within yourself and potential employees. Your efforts will not be wasted. Whether it’s the saving of thousands of dollars from reduced turnover at work or better communication with a spouse or friend, the rewards of looking inward are tremendous.

If your company needs help with inspiring employees to reach new heights in productivity, creativity, morale, and integrity, please contact us at inspiredleap.com or 512-236-0090. If you need some more inspiration or more regular nudging to practice these steps, check out our website to see what’s new to inspire you (a visit to The Quiet Room may be just what you need!).