You Get 1 Chance To Make a First Impression…IMPORTANT!

Good To Know, Bad To Hear

I do the best I can to share straight-forward real-time advice every time I have the opportunity with no intention of offending anyone.  It's tough sometimes to not step on toes.

Someone I used to work with years ago called it “Good to know, bad to hear” advice.

• You get one  chance to make a first impression when someone reviews your profile on LinkedIn.
• You get 1 chance to make a first impression when a hiring authority looks at your resume for 6-10 seconds.
• You get 1 chance to make a first impression when you engage in a phone interview.
• You get 1 chance to make a first impression when you walk in the door for a face-to-face interview.

This is Part of an Email That Landed in My Inbox

This email was from one of my clients who has a “critical” position to fill and they’re in a big hurry to conduct interviews.  At least that’s what they told me before they sat on two resumes for over two weeks.

With regards to the two highly skilled candidates I sent who didn’t want to hear it when I told them their resumes could be exponentially better, this is what my client had to say:

“I looked at the resumes and I am willing to talk with these two candidates for an initial telephone screen because you recommend them.  They don’t overly wow me, as they lack certifications, experience, and excitement, which is probably why I didn’t jump all over the two resumes.”

Here is the good to know, bad to hear truth.  Had both candidates’ resumes been cleaner, more clear and more logical in the way they were written, I would likely have had an answer from my client two weeks ago and not after I had to follow up with my client three times.

Here is another hard truth to swallow. Had these two candidates sent their resumes directly to my client and had they not been represented by me and the trust and goodwill I’ve already established with my client, they would not be getting interviews.

As it is, both candidates will have to dig their way out of a bad first impression hole.  

First impressions are critical.  Take first impressions seriously.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.881

Being Humble Will Raise You Higher

It was a bright sunny blue sky day in Colorado when I met the retired US Air Force 2 Star Major General for breakfast.  Our view was Pikes Peak.  The setting couldn’t have been better for our meeting and our outdoor breakfast in the crisp clean Colorado air.

I’ll call my breakfast colleague Bob for the sake of simplicity.  We hadn’t been seated for very long when Bob suggested that I look over his left shoulder.  At the table next to us were two individuals.  Bob started describing the person he wanted me to see.

Once I figured out who Bob wanted to tell me about, he asked me if I wanted to know the tall gentleman’s story.  Of course I wanted to know the story if Bob thought it was important enough to share. Bob always shares fascinating stories that are loaded with wisdom. 

The person at the other table was a retired 4 Star US Air Force General. Bob asked me if I wanted to know how the 4 Star General made it to 4 Stars.  Of course I wanted to know.  It turns out that Bob, the retired 2 Star Major General and the retired 4 Star General both graduated from the same class at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs 30 years ago.

Bob told me about the accomplishment filled career of the retired 4 Star General.  He suggested that the 4 Star General was always the smartest person in any group of people.  Bob told me that the 4 Star General learned very early in his Air Force career that it was better for him to listen than to speak more often than not.

Despite being the smartest person in the room most of the time, the 4 Star General was always the most active listener in the room.

Beyond listening more than he spoke, Bob told me that the 4 Star General was also a man of great humility.  Having humility means that you don’t think of yourself as being better than other people. 

In leadership action, humility means that you make a habit out of letting other people speak and letting other people win.  Staying humble and allowing others to win around him were keys to the 4 Star General reaching the 4 Star rank.

I asked Bob why he thought he didn’t make it to the 4 Star level?  He told me that it took him a lot longer to learn about humility than it did for his Academy classmate. 

 Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

Today is a Day That Will Change My Business

For a long time, I've wanted to deliver high value content loaded webinars.  A very real technology setback held me back.  Today, my problem disappeared.  Check out the before photo showing CenturyLink DSL download and upload speed.  I use the term "Speed" very loosely. 

Can you imagine why I'm feeling like a kid in a candy shop?  This is almost as good as a knee deep day of powder skiing or flying down a mountain trail at 40 mph on my mountain bike.

Look out world. I'm about to do things that have been restricted to my white board for a couple of years. 

One more thought.  Without the entrepreneurial risk taking venture of Jayson Baker, Founder of Peak Internet, we'd still be stuck with the absolutely horrible service provided by CenturyLink.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

IQ Gets You Started…EQ Takes You Further

Cognitive IntelligenceEIQ is Cognitive Intelligence. Cognitive Intelligence involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.

Emotional Intelligence

EQ or Emotional Quotient (Emotional Intelligence) is a set of emotional and social skills that collectively establish how we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges and how we use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.

The Professor

A conversation I shared a while back with one of the smartest people I know shed light on a topic I set out to master a few years ago.  I have a relationship with someone who has a PhD in Math.  He was once a college math professor.  He’s worked in government circles and he has worked in private industry as a management consultant.

We got into a conversation one day where I learned about the early part of my friend’s career.  As a young college math professor, he learned the hard way that his high IQ wasn’t enough to make him successful.  He told me that he wished I’d come along to teach him about the value of people and relationships long ago.  He learned the hard way.

Stick With My Mission He Said

This amazingly smart former professor encouraged me to stick with my mission of wanting to help gifted, high IQ technology professionals to help them get to the next level in their careers by addressing their people skills, relationship building skills and for some, their leadership skills.

Jeff Snyder, Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, 719.686.8810

A Happy Federal Agent Gets an Interview

Jeff Snyder Coaching Resume Writing

Stronger Emotional Intelligence Can Take Your Career To The Next Level

The beginning of March started in a great way for me.  My first call of the day was an Emotional Intelligence Coaching call.

What I’m most excited about with this particular client is that he is in his early 30s.  Emotional Intelligence generally begins developing in a person’s 20s.  It develops significantly in one’s 30s and 40s and tops off somewhere in the 50s for most people.

This client is already extremely successful by most people’s measuring sticks.  What got him to his current high level of success is a very high IQ (his cognitive skills).  Basically, he has gotten to where he is today by finding ways to leverage his analytical skills and his raw intelligence.

My client's new role requires him to do less heads-down engineering work and more collaboration with people. What we started working on today is another part of his brain that hasn’t been exercised much at all.

Psychological research shows that IQ is generally responsible for 10% or less of most people’s overall success.  In some cases, that number can rise to 20% but it is generally 10% or less.

We'll be working together to develop skills that will cause my client  to be more effective when he works with other people. His IQ giftedness won’t go away.  What he’ll have as we work to essentially build new muscles is a more balanced approach to business, to people and to relationships.

Jeff Snyder Emotional Intelligence Coaching, 719.686.8810

Words Are Powerful…They Can Change another Person’s Outlook

Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, don’t underestimate the power of your communication. People who know how and when to communicate are in high demand. 

I’m not talking about standing on a stage as a public speaker.  I’m referring to the day-to-day opportunities we all have to communicate in a way that just might make someone else’s day if we simply invest a moment to think about someone else.

Over the weekend, I shared a ski day with two of my best ski buddies. One of those buddies is a really good photographer.  He decided to exercise his photography skills on Saturday.  The photo at the top of this article shows his talent.

I shared this photo on Facebook because I thought John did an outstanding job with the camera.  Colorado provided the backdrop.  A number of people “Liked” the photo on Facebook. 

One person in particular whom I have skied with one time in the past wrote something that made my day. He knows what I’ve had to overcome and fight through in order to get back on my skis.  This is what Paul wrote.

“Jeff! Awesome pic brother! To go from where you were a couple years ago to this is nothing short of miraculous!”

When you go through experiences in life that cause you to have to find mental toughness in order to overcome the deck of cards you’ve been dealt, every day is a challenge and the road gets very lonely at times.

Sometimes a simple thought from someone who is paying attention to how hard you're working to overcome your setback can be just enough fuel in the mental gas tank to keep the engine running. To me, Paul’s words were like a shot of adrenaline that I deeply appreciate.

Getting back to the first sentence of this blog, know that your words can make a significant impact on another person at any time in any circumstance. You don’t have to be an eloquent writer or speaker.  You simply have to pay attention and invest a moment to care when you run into someone who could benefit from your support and encouragement. 

These opportunities exist all around us every day of life.

 You may not even know what you did but you might change someone’s outlook with a few carefully chosen words at the right time.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Do You Ever Spend Time On The Edge?

Yesterday was what we call a “Bluebird Day” on the mountain here in Colorado.   The sky was blue. The sun was shining. The ski runs were groomed and it was a day for fast skiing.

My friend is a really good photographer.  He brought his fancy camera and lenses out and devoted his day to showing me a few things about photography.

I love this photo that John took.  To me, it is a reminder of fast skiing (which I have a passion for) and living on the edge.  You can't tell by looking at the photo but my speed was in excess of 50 MPH.  I love speed!

Do you spend time on the edge?  Do you ever step out of your comfort zone to do things that might scare you, stretch you or invigorate you? 

I’ve been labeled more than once a “thrill seeking adrenaline junkie”. 

When someone labeled me that way for the first time, I asked him what was wrong with the label.  He told me that I might get hurt.  I responded by suggesting that I might not get hurt.  We agreed to disagree. 

What have you always thought about doing that you just aren’t doing? 

Step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  You just might like it!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

You Got the Job and Inherited a Team...Now What?

CONGRATULATIONS...YOU GOT THE JOB!

You’ve made it through the interview process and you’re the top candidate.  You accepted the job and in two weeks, you’ll be stepping into a new office with new colleagues and a new team.  You just inherited a team that you didn’t have anything to do with hiring.

DISENGAGEMENT

Research from the Gallup organization for more than 15 years suggests that +-70% of the US workforce is disengaged.  The odds that you’ve just inherited some disengaged people on your team are quite high. The sooner you know this, the sooner you can take corrective action.

WHO DID YOU INHERIT?

What if there was a way that you could almost instantly discover who you’ve inherited?  Not by looking through personnel files to find your team’s resumes.  Their resumes are marketing documents. What you really need to know is exactly and precisely who you’ve hired in terms of how each person on your team is wired.  Quickly learn how they learn, how they want to be managed, how they like to be rewarded and more.

HOW CAN YOUR TEAM BE GREAT?

In other words, what if you could discover what each person on your team has the potential to be great at?  What if you could align each person with work that taps into their strengths? 

AN ENGAGED TEAM

I’m willing to bet that you’d be getting off to the best start of any manager your team members have ever had before in their careers.  You’ll be on the road to having an engaged team.  People who are lucky enough to be on your team are people who will be more likely to stay with you.  They’ll also become highly productive people because they’re doing what they have potential to be great at.

HOW WE'LL DO IT

We’ll call this Team Training, Group Training or maybe Group Training or Group Coaching.  Jeff Snyder will work with you and your team to determine how each person on the team is wired. He'll then show the team leader and the team members how they can work together to produce the greatest possible results.

Whether you're just starting in a new job and you need a quick snapshot of who you've inherited on your team or you've had a team for a while and you want to lead your team to the next level, we can help you with your people intelligence in a matter of days versus months.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

Who Should You Connect To On LinkedIn?

I saw a post today that sat under this title:

“LION Hunting: Why “LinkedIn Open Networkers” Deserve to Be Shot.”

I’m not here to argue about the article title.  A LinkedIn LION by the way is someone who considers themselves to be an Open Networker who will connect to anybody or just about anybodyWhat caught my attention was a comment on the article.

Being an Open Networker when LinkedIn was new was great.  I operated that way for a while but I don't any longer because of all the fraudulent profiles that are popping up on LinkedIn over the past few years.

Here's the comment on the article mentioned above that caught my attention:

“I always favour Invites from members with lower connections and plausible Endorsements. As soon as I see in excess of around 1500 (maximum) connections and/or the 'giveaway', 99+ Endorsements for every skill, I am very put off and will not connect. There are a few exceptions, namely high profile people, but very few.”

I’m one of those evil people who sit on a very large LinkedIn network.  I’m not a criminal. I’m not a spammer and I’m not unworthy of having in your network if I happen to fit your LinkedIn Strategy.  You have a LinkedIn Strategy don’t you?

Here’s what caught my attention in the comment. 

1.      I don’t understand the logic of only wanting to connect with people who have “lower connections” and “plausible Endorsements”. 

2.      Anyone who has been on LinkedIn for over a decade as I have is highly likely to have in excess of 1500 connections.  The person who wrote the comment you see above is missing out on some really good connection opportunities if she is cutting off anyone who has what she considers to be a large network.

3.      I call the “Endorsements” the commenter is referring to checkbox endorsements.  I am one of those evil people who have 99+ endorsements on many of my skills displayed on LinkedIn.  Sure, some of my check box endorsements come from people I don’t know well.  However, as I look at the smiling faces that show up on my LinkedIn endorsements this morning, I have to tell you that I know all of those people and I’ve earned my 99+ endorsements in ever instance.

4.      I’m just a guy who works hard to create value every day of life and I have a habit of taking good to great on a regular basis.  I guess not being a “high profile” human being as the commenter stated makes me not worthy of her connection.

Seriously, think through the logic in the commenter’s comment.  I strongly suggest that you apply a strategy to LinkedIn and your strategy doesn’t have to be my strategy.  Build your strategy around good business logic. 

I don’t see a lot of business logic in the comment that prompted me to write this blog.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

How to get More of Your LinkedIn Connection Invitations Accepted

This is the standard LinkedIn invitation that comes from 95% of the people who send connection invitations in my direction.  The first thing you should do to differentiate yourself from everyone else is to invest a minute to write a unique connection invitation.

“Jeff,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

 EXAMPLE #1

This invitation came to me from someone I don’t know.  The invitation came with a professional looking photo.  This person’s profile is built out well and includes a reasonable number of what I call check box endorsements.  His profile appears to be a real profile.  I'll accept this invitation to connect.

“I am looking for some guidance after working 30+ as a Director for a nonprofit agency. I am looking at retirement in a few years and I want to start my search now.”

Example #2

 “Hi Jeff

Found you when research Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Certification. I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

This invitation came to me from someone I don’t know.  The invitation came with a professional looking photo.  This person’s profile is built out well and includes a reasonable number of check box endorsements. 

His profile appears to be a real profile. I have a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Certification and it shows up on my LinkedIn profile.  I can tell that this person did his homework.  I'll accept this invitation to connect.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Leave the Comfort Zone, Take a Risk, Take Action

Who Needs Improvement?

Impulse Control…a Really Important Emotional Intelligence Skill

Emotional Intelligence

You may wonder why I’m writing about Emotional Intelligence rather than Strengths today.

After being led to an understanding of my own Strengths while working with a Strengths Coach, it seemed to me that there had to be more to the human make-up than just strengths alone. It seemed to me that in order to leverage my own Strengths, I would also have to learn how to manage my Weaknesses do they didn't get in the way of my Strengths.  

For many years, as a result of being a technology recruiter, I’ve observed different people’s careers rising and falling.  I’ve always been curious to know why one person rose while their colleague at another company fell.  It wasn't that any of the people I observed lost or gained intelligence.  Their cognitive abilities (IQ) were always high.  My observation was that it was their behavior that got in their way and led to setbacks or sometimes failure.

My research led me to the topic of Emotional Intelligence. I was so intrigued by the topic that I pursued training and certification around the topic so I can now offer this topic as a really important part of my career coaching and leadership coaching services.

Impulse Control

Impulse Control is one of 15 skills measured by the EQi-2.0 Emotional Intelligence Assessment that I use I my coaching practice.  It is an Emotional Intelligence skill that many of my clients struggle with until we work on improving it. The great news here is that Impulse Control can be improved.

Impulse Control is made up of impulses that compel action.  Impulses can be either helpful or harmful to us.  Unfortunately, a lack of Impulse Control can become the source of significant setbacks. 

I’ve been working on the Impulse Control skill with several of my Emotional Intelligence Coaching clients. One client recently sent this to me in an email:

Subject:  Emotional intelligence rocks!

"I was just in a meeting with two “C” level executives. The CTO went off in response to the petty barbs the other “C” level executive was littering the conversation with.  I just sat there and looked concerned and bewildered. EI awesomeness! I was on my very best behavior.  Honestly, I had to draw heavily from the impulse control bank. Just because you think it doesn't mean you have to say it.”

The “C” level executive I’m working with as a coaching client is learning that he can experience success far more often when he listens rather than when he speaks.  He is the smartest person in most rooms he visits by the way.

If you even suspect that Impulse Control is a skill that could be improved upon in your own life, I can help you.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

I Just Joined the LinkedIn Police Force

No, I didn’t really do that.  I don’t know if there is such a police force. It just seems to me that there are a lot of people who are deciding for other people what is and is not okay to post on LinkedIn. Do people really have that much time on their hands?

I post Cybersecurity News and Cybersecurity Vulnerability and Patch Reports every week.  I also post information to help others to understand Strengths and Emotional Intelligence.  These are two topics I coach my clients around with great results.  

Next, I post articles that I write for LinkedIn on topics such as Leadership, Hiring, Talent, Emotional Intelligence, Strengths, Career Development, Career Coaching, etc.

I'm also guilty of sharing what are generally really good security jobs for people who want to advance their careers.  

My intention with everything I post on LinkedIn is to bring value to people who are kind enough to follow my content.  Will everyone like everything that I post?  I suspect not.  In fact, I know that not everyone likes what I post because I lose a follower or two every week.

On the other hand, I’m picking up several followers every week so I’ll continue to share what I share for those who seem to appreciate what I share.

If there is a LinkedIn Police Force as I suggested above, I don’t have time to joint it so don’t worry.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching, Security Recruiter Blog, 719.686.8810

Is the Self-Assurance Strength One of Your Top Strengths?

Self-Assurance is a Clifton StrengthsFinder theme.  It is one of 34 themes that each one of us has but we have each theme in a different order than the person next to us.  When a theme appears at or near the top of someone’s theme list, it might be one of their Strengths.

People who possess the strength of Self-Assurance are generally confident in their own abilities.  They possess a high internal confidence telling them that their decisions are the right decisions.  People who possess high Self-Assurance are generally confident that they can take risks and that the risks they take will result in delivery.

It’s not just self-confidence that this person possesses.  They also tend to have high confidence in their own judgment. 

Self-Assurance is a Strength that the Clifton StrengthsFinder places in an “Influencing” category.  The person who possesses this strength can often lead the way.  They can instill confidence in people around them.

You can find out how you’re uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of strengths into leverage that comes out in your personal power!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

“He’s Really Cool. He Drives a Maserati!”

The Phone Call

My phone rang.  On the other end was an enthusiastic Human Resource (HR) person at a very large company.  She told me that her company had several positions to fill and they’d just fired an executive retained search firm that wasn’t producing.  Interesting but I needed to know a lot more before allowing this hot potato to be dropped into my hands.

Fired

The HR person told me about a senior executive who had recently been relieved of his duties because he was creating significant turnover.  She told me about the great products her company was creating.  She told me about all the opportunity that existed for the right people if they were to join the company now that the bad manager was gone.

My Wheels Were Turning

When the HR person stopped talking, I had at least 30 questions built up in my head.  I wanted to know how long the bad manager was there before action was taken.  I wanted to know how many people left because of the bad manager.  The answer was that he was there far too long and far too much damage had been done.

What's The Hiring Manager Like?

I asked about the executives who were still on board.  I asked the HR person to describe the particular executive the open positions would report to.

“He’s really Cool…He Drives a Maserati!”

This is all she had to say about the hiring manager.  

I was thinking more along the lines of managerial style, ability to communicate effectively, the hiring manager’s ability to build trust, the hiring manager’s character, ethics and values, etc.

People Leave Bad Managers

It has been said that people don’t leave companies nearly as often as they leave bad managers.  I hope I don’t know anybody who would take a job with someone simply because they drive a certain kind of car. 

If you are considering a new position, learn how to interview your potential employer in order to clearly understand what you might be walking into.  If you join a toxic company, it will likely continue to be a toxic company long after you’ve moved on.

It is your resume that will show a bad career move and it is your body that will absorb the damaging stress that comes from being misaligned with a job that does not align with your personal strengths and your personal values.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Do You Have the Achiever or Activator Strength High on Your List of Strengths?

The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment has been taken more than 13,000,000 times around the world.  That’s a lot of data from which to learn about people.

I don’t have recent numbers handy but when the StrengthsFinder had been taken 8.5 million times, Achiever sat at the top of the list in terms of frequency in which it sits on the list of people’s top 5 strengths.

Activator on the other hand sat at number 29 in terms of frequency in which it sits on the list of people’s top 5 strengths.

Activator:

Activators are people who possess the ability to get things started.  They are gifted at turning thoughts into actions and they can push paralysis of analysis situations into motion.

Achiever:

Achiever describes people who work hard, possess significant stamina and people who like to push efforts to the finish line.

If you’re building a team, it would be a great idea to have an Activator on the team to put efforts into motion.  You’ll also need an Achiever on your team to bring efforts to the finish line. Sometimes activators like to get started but they get bored before they reach the finish line.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Friday Coaching Results Report

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Jeff, Are You a Career Coach, Life Coach, Executive Coach or Something Else?

Recently a technology professional came to me asking me what kind of coach I am.  That’s a great question and one I’m happy to answer.   I'm a coach who has a track record of success of helping my clients get from where they are to where they want to go.  

For some people, I’ve been a technology career coach.  For others, I’ve been a security career coach.  For some people I’ve served them as a Resume Coach or a LinkedIn Coach.  For others, I’ve helped them as a Strengths Coach and an Emotional Intelligence Coach.

For the most part, I’m skilled, trained and certified in multiple ways to help my clients get from where they are to where they want to go.  When I built my coaching programs from the ground up, I started with the end in mind.

I went to business leaders and asked them what they needed in people coming up behind them.  I went to the subordinates of business leaders to find out exactly and precisely what they wanted, needed and expected in someone they would submit to and follow as a leader.’

With this information in hand, I either got busy creating methodologies attached to solutions to solve the problems I already knew how to solve or I surveyed the marketplace to find what I consider to be “best in class” tools and assessments to assist me in helping myclients. 

More than training and certification, many of my coaching clients would tell you that I am “gifted” to coach.  Here’s specifically what a few of them have shared on www.JeffSnyderCoaching.com.

There are two things I'll guarantee to any of my coaching clients.

1. I will do everything in my power to lead my coaching clients to their desired results.
2. I will never take on a coaching assignment where I do not have the expertise to provide value.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810