The Seven Elements of a Creative Personality. Personality test based on C. Jung and I. Briggs Myers type theory. Do Yourself a Favor: Hire Nice People. This entrepreneur says team dynamics can make or break your company. That's why he hires the nice guy every time. Jeremy Quittner is a staff writer for Inc. magazine and Inc.com. He previously covered technology for American Banker and entrepreneurship for BusinessWeek. @JeremyQuittner. 4 Traits of Sales Superheros. Today, I interviewed baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. He talked about perseverance and never giving up. He talked about how the ability to focus under pressure has a lot to do with your preparation. Bench was talking about baseball, but the same rules apply to sales. Our conversation got me thinking about the traits of great salespeople. If asked to list all of the traits and qualities of sales superstars, I could name at least 20 or 30. Staying in line with the four P's of marketing (price, product, promotion, and place), here are my four P's of selling: 1.
Great salespeople have an innate skill for connecting with others on a personal level. Your smile, handshake, eye contact, and attitude will start you off on the right foot. 2. Maintaining a positive attitude while getting rejections, going through setbacks, and dealing with difficult people is what separates the best from the rest. You can also improve your attitude with a focus on constant learning and serving. 3. 4.
Why It's Wise to Hire People Smarter Than You. I received this note recently from an Evernote user in Japan: Some of my team members complain that I micromanage. I think they have a valid point, but then I find myself having to tell them how to do even the smallest things. Do you have some general rule in role-sharing? I do. I'll tell you how I discovered it. When I was just getting started as a CEO, I had a stupid way of thinking about employees. And I was probably right. My thinking began to change when I started worrying about the amount of micromanagement I had to do. So I woke up. Everyone who reports to me has to be much better at doing his or her job than I could ever be.
I'm a pretty good programmer, but Dave Engberg, Evernote's CTO, is much smarter than I am about everything having to do with computer systems and architectures. These are only a small fraction of the team. This is a great way to manage, and it reduces a lot of stress. Hiring people smarter than yourself is the long-term answer to your micromanagement problem. Should You Use Personality Testing in Hiring? Finding employees that are a good fit to your company's culture is one of the most difficult aspects of the hiring process. It's not too surprising then that in recent years the use of personality tests as a method of screening employees has been on the rise. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that the increase may also be due to post-9/11 security and workplace violence concerns.
Some of the more established tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness (DISC), and the Caliper Profile, but there are many others on the market as well. Related: How to Make a Poor Performance Review More Effective Understanding how to use personality tests can help you find employees with specific traits that are well-suited for the position you're trying to fill, says Paul Forti, founder of PCM Management Consultants LLC, a Monroe, N.J. -based management consulting and assessment firm. 1. 2. 3. 4. Cultural Fit in An Interview May Matter More than Qualifications or Skills. Recruiting: 8 Qualities Your Best Employees Should Have. Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers... they possess a wide range of easily-defined—but hard to find—qualities. A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance.
Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees: 1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done. When a key customer's project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there's a problem and jump in without being asked—even if it's not their job. 2. People who aren't afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Great employees follow processes.
Hiring Secrets: Finding a Personality Fit. At a small business or startup, your company culture helps you attract new employees and drive motivation. Preserving it as you grow can be tough, especially if you grow quickly. Bringing in talented people is key to your success, but hires whose personalities don't quite fit can start to erode your culture and increase turnover. "The biggest mistake you can make is to try and force it," says Jonathan Basker, Vice President of People at Betaworks, a New York-based company that builds social web companies, including Digg, bitly, and SocialFlow.
To find the right people for your company, your hiring process needs to give each candidate an opportunity to showcase their personality. Creating that level of comfort is a matter of knowing what you want and establishing trust. Here are four tips to help you hire personalities that fit with your company's culture. Related: How to Create a Company Culture That People Will Be Excited to Join 1. 2. Related: How to Hire Superstar Employees 3. 4. 10 Things Really Amazing Employees Do | Inc. 5000. As a longtime employer of dozens, I was always grateful to have good employees. It takes a lot to recruit and maintain top talent. Every once in a while special employees come along that just really seem to get it.
They drive the entire company forward in ways that were unimaginable. Advancement and reward is never an issue for these rock stars because they understand the power of cause and effect, and only a worthy company can retain them and afford them. Here are 10 things amazing employees seem to do effortlessly. 1. They understand they're part of something bigger and more worthwhile than just their job. What you can do: Invest in material and seminars on business basics like accounting, marketing, and management so all employees have easy access to learn and grow. 2. They treat the company as if it were theirs. What you can do: Be transparent in your business. 3. You don't have to be in sales or marketing to help a company grow. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Like this post?