Welcome to The Beacon. Creating Buy-in’s short newsletter designed to shine a light on the nuances of leadership and give a fresh perspective on how to move forward.
List People You Let Go As References On Your Resume?
Think about it: if you were to walk out of an interview saying “what I did was included in the references section of my resume people who I’ve had to let go. They should be able to provide for you anything you need to know about me and my ability to perform my role.”
Arrogant? Yes, probably. Should you do it? Hey, if you want to, go right ahead, but, thats not what we’re advocating. Instead, use this as a thought experiment:
What if in fact you did do this? What would those references say? Would they sing your praises admitting they were let go at a time in their life where they couldn’t manage the job well but you were there for them? Would they say negative, awful and nasty things about you?
Whatever they say it would indicate what your relationship was like with them up until that last day. If they have great things to say, you did your job, coached them, and explained the reasons they could no longer be on the team well. If not, then maybe they were just a stubborn knucklehead. Those exist too.
Either way, something to think about. What do you think?
Are One On Ones Necessary?
The CEO of NVIDIA describes his leadership style. His belief is, If he wouldn’t say it to one person, he wouldn’t say it to anyone. One on ones have their place for sure, but this is a valuable perspective to listen to.
Travel Agents Vs Tour Guides
“There’s a great analogy that John C. Maxwell uses when it comes to leadership, and it’s this concept of Travel Agents versus Tour Guides. Travel agents sell you vacation packages to cities and destinations that they oftentimes have not been themselves. Whereas tour guides walk you through the cities themselves and point out the historical and cultural significance that the city or destination has to offer. Poor leaders often give their people direction without any concept or knowledge of how to get there. Great leaders give direction while participating in the journey. Great leaders are the ones who’ve been there before and don’t just give a “road map” for their team members. Instead, they are invested in the work and cognizant of what it takes their team to accomplish it.”
