Why Do Leaders Derail

Leadership derailment largely depends upon two factors:

1) the perceptions of others about your performance which includes your relationship with them, and

2) your contributions or results produced for the good of the organization

The first of the two is the most critical in terms of leadership derailment because a leader may have produced outstanding results, but if he/she has damaged relationships along the way, or has operated with a lack of integrity, derailment may be inevitable.

Some of the universal factors of leadership derailment are:

- Erosion or betrayal of trust

- Failure to deliver and be accountable

- Failure to adapt

- Lack of courage and decisiveness

- Creating or endorsing a dysfunctional work environment

- Failure to develop people and organization

- Lacks forward-looking and inspirational approach

- Lack of objectivity and broad-mindedness

Learn how to manage the risk factors that lead to derailment by attending multiple webinars hosted by CDR Assessment Group Inc. For more information or to schedule a webinar visit: http://www.cdrassessmentgroup.com/ContactUs.php

The 7 common mistakes employers make when recruiting and hiring

The following are 7 mistakes employers are making when looking to recruit and hire both internally and externally:

1. Relying too heavily on rigid educational and experiential criteria - don't be so black and white!

• HR departments are known for screening out top candidates who do not meet "exact requirements" to the letter. For example, one of our clients has an HR Director who is a stickler. If "7 years" is required for a given job and a strong candidate has merely 5 years 3 months, they are screened out without a thought.
• Or, maybe your firm is part of the exclusive club screening and only taking MBAs from Wharton or Harvard? Perhaps an MBA graduate from Arizona State University, University of Texas, or even Wheaton university may be the best candidate. Open your horizons.

2. Making decisions based primarily on interviews.

• Most socially skilled people can interview well in their sleep. Those who interview best often perform the worst. Conversely, many who stumble on interviews, or who lack polish or visible confidence, may be superstars that just need to be identified and supported a bit to shine.

3. Allowing management's personal bias and need to surround themselves with clones, replicas or 'feel good' types impact selection. Decision makers need to step out of their current comfort zones or restrictive paradigm and image of what a successful candidate looks or acts like. Exceptional talent is diverse, and yes, different.

• I've had a Sr. VP tell me, yes I can understand that this is undoubtedly the best fit candidate, but he just doesn't fit the executive mold here. What??? You can sign him up at Macy's with a wardrobe coahch: we can teach etiquette: we cannot re-hardwire inherent capability.

4. Interviewing or wasting time on non-fit candidates.

5. Conducting cursory reference and background checks.

6. Listening to the advice of head hunters (i.e. External recruiters)

• They can get you people to consider; but then you have to identify the talent. Don't rely heavily on recommendations made by recruiting firms. Many are like car salesmen, Albeit smoother in their communication skills. They sell and earn a commission. We've seen many hiring disasters because of following the advice of recruiters.
• It should be no surprise that recruiters resent what we do for obvious reasons. Many of the candidates they try to push on our clients don't make it in the door for an interview.

7. Using your current (leadership promotional) and succession processes that rely too heavily on ticket punching, political savvy, technical know-how and superficial performance results.

Visit our website to read more on how to prevent these costly mistakes.

www.cdrassessmentgroup.com