Outside In or Inside Out…Which Career Development Approach is Better?

Outside In or Inside Out?

Most people I’ve met over nearly three decades of recruiting seem to choose a profession and a career path to follow before they determine exactly who they are, how they’re built and how they are uniquely gifted. I’ll call this Self-Awareness. Self-Awareness leads to Clarity.

When a career path decision is made correctly, a person is positioned to deliver the best possible version of themselves to everyone around them.

When this decision is not made correctly, people are promoted to levels where the technical skills that got them to a certain level of engineering or architectural accomplishment are no longer enough to achieve the same level of success as they continue to rise in an organization.

As promotions occur, and as promotions are achieved, required skills change. These new roles require people skills, exceptional communication skills, soft skills, influencing, empathy, humility, negotiating, persuasion, collaboration, partnering skills, and more.

Outside In

For those who chose or stumbled into what is now Cybersecurity, early on, it was like stepping into the “Wild West”. Judging from the multitude of Cybersecurity job descriptions I see on a daily basis, the “Wild West” analogy fits quite well.

Employers rarely know what they're doing when hiring Cybersecurity talent. Cybersecurity professionals deliver communication to their audience that does not align with the way their audience communicates.

By jumping into the water and catching a fast-rising wave, many brilliant Cybersecurity technologists were promoted to Manager, Director, Vice President, and CISO titles. While this might appear to be a great accomplishment on the surface, it might not be such a great accomplishment after all.

The high-IQ driven, cognitive intelligence, analytical, linear thinking skills that cause a person to be great at addressing hardcore cyber technology issues are not the skills generally required for success at the Manager, Director, Vice President or CISO levels.

Inside Out

A better approach to choosing a career path begins with gaining a clear picture of who you are and what your unique giftedness translates into. Are you gifted to lead, guide, manage, mentor, and influence others? If you are, you may have what it takes to be someone’s outstanding boss. For most people, these skills don't come naturally but they can be developed.

On the other hand, if your unique giftedness is made of strategic thinking skills that reside in your head where nobody else can see them or experience them, you’re most likely gifted to be a great technologist or technology architect.

Finding out how you are uniquely wired is the key to knowing whether you should go straight, turn left or turn right at a various point in your career path.

Peter Principle

“The Peter Principle is a concept in management theory formulated by educator Laurence J. Peter and was published in 1969. It states that the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence".

The Peter Principle runs wild in the “Wild West” of Cybersecurity. You owe it to yourself to discover what you are naturally built to be great at. You’ll appreciate what you can accomplish when you align your natural giftedness with your chosen work and so will those around you.

Change Your Life Today

Cybersecurity professionals come to me on a daily basis with questions. It seems that in many cases, they don’t know when to go straight, when to turn left or when to turn right.

Nothing is more satisfying to me than to help a person who sincerely wants to know, to determine how they are uniquely gifted so I can map their unique giftedness towards the right career path.

Choosing the right career path has potential to result in greater job satisfaction, higher earning potential, improved productivity, improved relationships, and lower stress.

Who wouldn’t want a better job fit, more income, a greater sense of accomplishment, more quality working relationships and all with less stress?

Use this link to schedule a strategy call with me so I can get you started on the road to Clarity and Discovery.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Career Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Do You Possess a High ACTIVATORⓒ Score on the Clifton StrengthsFinder™?

Activatorⓒ is one of my top scores on the Clifton StrengthsFinder™. The more I coach people who have this strength and the more I learn about this strength, the more I understand just how unique it is.

Putting my opinion aside, here are the facts.  Out of the 34 traits measured by the Clifton StrengthsFinder™, ACTIVATORⓒ comes in at number 29 in frequency out of 34.  What that means is that 11% of people out of more than 15,000,000 who have taken the assessment have ACTIVATORⓒ in their top 5 strengths out of 34 possibilities.  In other words, having Activatorⓒ in one’s top 5 strengths is somewhat rare.

The more I understand about how ACTIVATORⓒ works, the more I like it. 

• People who have this particular strength are always thinking about how to get started and how to mobilize others. 
• They turn ideas into action and they often possess contagious energy. 
• They make things happen!

If you are deeply gifted with Analytical traits as defined by the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ and you have a difficult time hitting the “GO” button, you might need to partner with an ACTIVATORⓒ in order to get your brilliant ideas into motion.

If you have this trait yourself, you should be in a position where you have the ability to get things going.  Remember that most people don't have the "GO" button to push that you possess.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

"Working with you has been an Eye Opener"

Can a Career Road Map be Strategically Planned?

Not long ago, a really bright converged security professional came to me for resume writing help.  After sharing a phone call with this person, I was convinced that he/she was extremely articulate.  After a short amount of time on the phone, I saw a serious disconnect between the person portrayed on the resume that was in front of me and the person I was listening to on the phone.  This happens all the time by the way.

There was no doubt at all that this caller needed help from a professional resume writer but that’s not all they needed. I sensed that I was listening to a Security Rock Star who didn’t know they had a future as a Security Rock Star.

My caller needed clarity, confidence and a clear career road map.  I suggested that they consider my Strengths Coaching program. 

Here’s how it works and here’s what my clients can expect in terms of results after the coaching program is has been completed.

1.      The beginning of the program focuses on learning.  After my clients take a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, our first two phone calls focus on me helping my client to understand what their unique talents are, how they operate, how they come across to other people and what the powerful edge and potential pitfalls are that are connected to each of their unique talents.

2.      In the second phase of this program, my clients begin to understand their unique talents.  At this point they can claim what is naturally theirs and they can choose to own the gifts they have.

3.      Once my client decides to claim and own their gifts, then I’m in a position to help them to properly aim their gifts.  What this means is that some people are gifted to be the most brilliant architects and engineers in the building.  Other people are naturally gifted to manage people and some people are naturally gifted to learn how to lead. At this point, I can step in with my 26+ years of experience in recruiting and I turn to my top strengths. My Futuristic strength combined with my Strategic strength and my experience all work together in helping my clients to build unique strategic career road maps that align with their unique giftedness.

A Strength as defined by the Clifton StrengthsFinder is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. 

The good news is that every human being has talents that can be turned into strengths. All of our talents are different; making us unique individuals.  Once talents become strengths, the sky is the limit when an individual can deliver a near-perfect performance over and over and over again.

 Jeff Snyder Coaching, Strengths Coaching, 719.686.8810

Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching…Why?

I was recently asked why I offer both Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Strengths Coaching focuses on what a person has potential to be great at based on their natural giftedness. Because I work heavily with people who are gifted technologists, I have built up enough data and experience to understand the uniqueness of the gifted technologists I’m privileged to serve.  When I get to pass this understanding on to the gifted technologists who trust me to coach them, I get to help my coaching clients take their personal game to a new level. 

Maximizer

This work taps into the Maximizer (one of my top strengths) in me. By default, my Maximizer causes me to focus on taking good to great all the time.  I love to show my clients how they can turn their good performance into a great performance.

Gifted Technologists

My work goes beyond working with gifted technologists.  My unique experience also enables me to show some of my clients how their unique giftedness sets them up to either become or to fine-tune their leadership abilities if they're already in leadership. 

The days when I get to coach someone who has potential they didn’t know they had before we got together are some of my best days!

Weaknesses

Because everyone I coach is a human being, there is a 100% chance that every one of my coaching clients have weaknesses.  As a Strengths Coach, I have determined that it makes no sense at all to try to help my clients turn their weaknesses into strengths.  It simply doesn’t work.

What does work is the effort I invest with my clients to strengthen their strengths while showing them how to build strategies around their weaknesses so their weaknesses don’t get in the way of their strengths. Strategies can’t be built around topics that are not clearly understood.

Emotional Intelligence

It was my observation that everyone has weaknesses that led me to discover a way to become trained and certified in Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Emotional Intelligence shows me how my clients perceive themselves.  Sometimes this self-perception is right and sometimes it is wrong.  I can also see how my clients are likely perceived by other people.  When there is a gap between how my clients perceive themselves and how they come across to other people, there is work to be done.

The good news here is that a person’s Emotional Intelligence can be improved upon.  In my coaching practice, these are the Emotional Intelligence skill we measure and work to improve based on each coaching client’s unique needs.

Emotional Intelligence

Self-Perception

Self-Regard, Self-Actualization, Emotional Self-Awareness

Self-Expression

Emotional Expression, Assertiveness, Independence

Interpersonal

Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy, Social Responsibility

Decision Making

Problem Solving, Reality Testing, Impulse Control

Stress Management

Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, Optimism

Working with my clients as an Emotional Intelligence Coach to improve their Emotional Intelligence is the most difficult and the most impactful and rewarding work I do.  When a person works to improve their behavior, the behavior that impacts other people and progress is made, this is the most impactful work I do and it is one of the greatest personal and professional investments my clients can possibly make.

Better behavior leads to all kinds of positive results.  When my clients are focused on doing work that aligns with their top strengths and they are focused on delivering their work with their best behavior attached, the result for my clients is their best performance. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.881

“I’m an Alpha Male” he told me

That’s what my caller told me during our conversation.  I’m not sure how you define “Alpha Male” so here's what came to my mind. 

I interpreted the comment in context of this conversation to mean that the person on the other end of my phone had a need to tell me he was a “Big Dog” and he was used to being in charge. 

The Alpha Males and Alpha Females I know who are impressive leaders may feel the need to tell others they are “Alpha” but they turn on their Impulse Control and they don't say what might be on their minds.

The "Alpha" leaders I know through my leadership coaching work more often than not possess the Command strength near the top of their StrengthsFinder report.  

Command as defined by the Clifton Strengthsfinder:  People exceptionally talented in the Command theme have presence.  They can take control of a situation and make decisions.  

Only 5% of the +-15 Million people who have taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder have the Command trait showing up in their top 5 traits.  Out of 34 traits that show up on the StrengthsFinder report, Command comes in 34th in terms of frequency. Command is rare.

Successful "Alpha" people tend to operate with these characteristics:

• They inspire trust by being honest and by demonstrating high integrity
• They are decisive
• They have vision and they are able to clearly communiate their vision
• They are people whose words you might not like but you always know where they stand
• They are humble
• They’re leaders

Leaders don’t need to tell others that they’re leaders.  They simply do what leaders do.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Leadership Coach, 719.686.8810

Strengths Coaching with Jeff Snyder

When you're ready to figure out the difference between what you "Can" do and what you "Should" do with your life, give me a call.  I help my clients to find Clarity.  Clarity leads to personal Confidence.  Clarity also makes Direction clear.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

What Is Strengths Coaching?

What Is Strengths Coaching?

The Strengths Coaching I’ll refer to here is what happens after a person takes a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  The report that comes from taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder shows a person’s totally unique human makeup or wiring as I like to call it, based on how their 34 traits line up.

The results of this assessment don’t throw a person into a box or category that someone else created.  This assessment brilliantly shows a person how entirely unique they are.  As a Strengths Coach, I get to show my clients what to do with their uniqueness.  I’m passionate about this work. 

“Millennials love not being put into a box by the way”

Traits / Strengths

The traits at or near the top of someone’s Clifton StrengthsFinder report are generally thought to be someone’s Strengths.  This is true if a person is aware of their dominant traits and if they’re actively working to leverage their dominate traits to create the best possible version of themselves.

I spoke in front of an audience of approximately 75 people.  I asked the audience to raise their hand of they had ever taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  My best guess is that as many as 60 out of 75 hands went up.

I then asked those who had raised their hand to keep their hand up if they had done anything with their StrengthsFinder assessment results.  Again, my best guess suggests that approximately 10 hands remained raised and as many as 50 hands went down.

Eye Opener

This was an eye opening experience for me. At that moment, I began to understand why so many people I encounter think they know their strengths.  In reality, these people might know the words that sit on an assessment report but if they’ve never gone beyond the word descriptions on the assessment report, they likely don’t know their unique personal strengths and more importantly, how those strengths operate.

My Strengths Coaching Process

• Begins with my client taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.

• What: In our first session together, I help my client to understand what their report says, how to read and interpret their report and we set the ground work for our second meeting.

• Why: In our second session together, my focus is on interactively taking my client on a deep dive into their unique top traits.  My goal here is to help my client see how and why their unique traits cause them to operate the way they do.  Simultaneously, my client will learn how their unique traits could be coming across to other people. It is during this second meeting that “Ah Ha” moments and “Light bulb” moments frequently occur.  This is when my clients start to see not just what dots are sitting on their report but they start to see how their dots work together to make them the unique person they are.

• How: In our next meeting, this is when I build our meeting around the homework my client worked on after our second meeting.  During the homework stage, I find that many of my clients start to develop clarity around what they uniquely have to offer.  Once the switch flips in my client’s mine, it is now time to start working on how they can leverage their unique giftedness to create their best performance.

• Leverage: In our fourth meeting, this is where I apply my 26+ years of experience as a professional recruiter to help my clients to create a personal strategy around their unique Strengths.  By strategy I’m referring to what my client will do with their new-found understanding of how to create their own best performance. For some of my clients, this means making course adjustments in the job they already have in the company they’re already in.  Some of my clients come to the realization that they might be in the wrong job or that they might be in the right or wrong job in the wrong company.  Other clients who had been scratching an entrepreneurial itch now have the clarity to see that stepping out to start their own business of some sort is the right personal decision.

Bottom Line

What matters to me is that each and every Strengths Coaching client I’m privileged to work with is able to move forward with enhanced Clarity, Direction, Confidence and a Strategic Plan to know how to get to their next destination.

What's Next?

Many of my Strengths Coaching clients learn so much about themselves through the Strengths Coaching experience that they stick with me to work on improving their Emotional Intelligence.  In addition to being a Strengths Coach, I am also a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach.  The work I do around Emotional Intelligence Coaching is the most deeply impacting work I’ve been privileged to do with other people in my entire career.

The combination of Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching is what moves my clients from “Good to Great” and I’m fortunate enough to go along for the ride. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching