Relationship Story - What I Learn from Her

Our older daughter, Katie, is getting married in July.  That’s obviously a big (and very happy) deal for our family, but as this great event approaches I’m struck by the clarity of what I am learning from her.  You see, Katie is a teacher.

During her first two years at UCLA, Katie was on the Mock Trial team and seemed destined to go to Law School.  Then she had her first chance to teach during the summer after year two, and this was followed by her chance to travel the world that Fall in the Semester at Sea program.  When she came home, they said she may be different than before she left after seeing the real world, including examples of true poverty and need.  I really wondered what would be different about her.

It was big.  When she returned home, Katie suddenly knew that she was destined to teach kids – Law School was a distant memory.  She has now been teaching high school for the past five years and is as purposeful about her career as anyone I know; she also travels the world every summer and builds even greater perspective along the way.  I started learning from Katie from the day she decided this was her destiny.

I remember starting my own career and having no real idea what was truly passionate for me, but I see how powerful it is for Katie to be in her zone every day, knowing she is fulfilling her destiny.

                                                                               

Katie is a teacher for me, helping me realize the value of purposefulness.

While I watch her grow each year to become even better at her purposeful craft, it causes me to continually examine my own choices and how I spend my time.  I have to ask myself all the time whether I am living as purposefully as I can.  I see the way Katie pours her heart and soul into helping young people have better lives and achieve far more than they had ever imagined.    

Who are the people in your life that are your teachers?  Perhaps it’s those folks that seem to be what you wish you were?  Perhaps it’s just something about them…

When I write these stories, I find that the subject is usually whatever I need to be learning myself right about then.  I suppose that as Katie gets married, I need to both appreciate her for the great person she has become and also to be reminded that I need to stay as purposeful in my life as possible.  Thanks for the reminder, teach! 

  

A Quick Business Update:  Our firm and my practice are very busy, and this reflection of business confidence is encouraging for the whole business community.  I’m also thrilled with the great initial success of the proprietary tool in my practice called the Fit Diagnostic - a key part of ensuring the ideal fit of candidates with our clients’ needs and culture.  I’d be happy to discuss this tool or how we might help with talent acquisition needs for your company or others you know.  

Sincerely,

Jeff Black

Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949   Office: (949) 529-2672

2 Venture, Suite 100    Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net    www.mbsearch.net    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

I believe creating relationships that truly fit makes a big difference in the world

Relationship Story - How Vision Can Transform Us

My coach, Vance Caesar, helps people like me understand the value of having both a purpose and a vision for my life.  The purpose part seemed to work easily for me – it’s always been about building fulfilling relationships, both for myself and for others.  However, vision was always a mystery, and I was clueless about its potential value for all the aspects of my life – personal, community, and also for my business.

At a 2007 retreat with Vance, he challenged me to write my “80^th birthday toast”.  Having just turned 50, writing a 30-year vision seemed fitting:

The imagined scene was a ballroom of 300 people including family and many long-time friends.  It would be a very festive event, but it was only coincidentally a celebration of my birthday.  It was, actually, a celebration of achievements in Orange County philanthropy that had occurred over 30 years because of the emergence of a subculture of Difference Makers who came together to change lives for the better.  The birthday was a sideline - I was among a group being recognized for having played a role in making these achievements possible.

For the first time ever, a vision had been crafted for my life.  While this was really cool, it also totally scared me.  I really didn’t know what to do with this idea.  My good friend Bill Sanderson suggested that I just start talking with people about the idea, and after I did, a small group came together around the vision of connecting “Difference Makers”.

While it made sense that this vision helped lead to DifferenceMakersOC, where connections are created among a community of successful people who also want to help others, the real surprise for me was what a difference this would ultimately make in my business life.  This surprise is what I really wanted to share with you, as only you know how transformational your own vision might be for you.

My epiphany was that after we had our first DifferenceMakersOC event in early 2011, where we gathered 100 OC Executives for networking and to benefit a worthy charity, I looked back at my business and saw it as something completely different.  I realized, to my surprise, that my work – fitting an ideal new leader into a key executive vacancy in a client company – is astoundingly similar to connecting two Difference Makers in the community. 

You see, I find the real key for ideal “fit” is to align the values and priorities of the company with the true makeup of a talented new executive leader.  When this fit is ideal, it’s like a great marriage, and the synergy provides tremendous benefit for every stakeholder of the company – all the employees, the investors, and each customer the company serves.  I was amazed to realize how well this “marriage” fits the Difference Makers vision.

I had no idea that discovering a vision for my life, one that initially seemed to relate only to serving others in the community, was really a blueprint for a more fulfilling business life as well.  I didn’t expect this outcome – just as I didn’t know the real value of a vision.  Why couldn’t I have learned this a long time ago?  I wish you all the best for finding your own buried treasure – it just may start with a vision.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback.  Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value. 

Reference:  For a great story about that original Difference Makers group, you can read a recent article by Russell Williams called Six Difference Makers – A Canvas of Influence for Good, copied on my blog at http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/, or visit www.ethicaledge.org – if you are not receiving the pearls of wisdom from Russ, I encourage you to get on his list.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black

Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949   Office: (949) 529-2672

2 Venture, Suite 100    Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net    www.mbsearch.net    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

I believe creating relationships that truly fit makes a big difference in the world

By Russell Williams - Six Difference Makers: A Canvas Of Influence For Good

2008 ~ SIX DIFFERENCE MAKERS: A Canvas Of Influence For Good

November 13th, 2012 | Author: Russell Williams

They Came My Way

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.”

-  Sandra Day O’Connor

It was 2008. In June Senator Barrack Obama became the Democratic presidential candidate. On November 4th he was elected President with 338 electoral votes. In March the government began to intervene in the U.S. financial system crisis.   In May Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had the right to challenge their detention in federal court.

The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers to win the NCAA Basketball Championship. Randy Pausch released The Last Lecture, creating a nationwide conversation.   John Grisham’s book, The Appeal, was released as was Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

Charlton Heston, Bobby Fischer, William Buckley, Paul Newman, Tim Russert, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Suzanne Pleshette, and Cyd Charisse were among notable individuals who passed on.

By 2008 a small group of Orange County men had been meeting for several months reaching back into 2007. In its beginnings the group was convened at the invitation of Jeff Black and included Dave Elliott, Greg Arbues, Jeff Abbott, Bill Sanderson, myself and one other OC professional who had to step aside from participation because of a career change. By 2008 Denny Bellesi became part of the group. Since that time the group has met on the second Friday morning of each month.

Jeff did not have an agenda when we gathered the first few meetings. After several months, it became clear that the group would not operate with an agenda of shared action, but rather something unique would emerge. As Bill Sanderson has said on several occasions over the last few years about this monthly meeting…it is the only meeting he attends monthly where there is no agenda, no action plan of deliverables, yet always filled with unscripted meaning and outcome that brings influence for good to many, many people throughout Orange County.

Imagine you, my reader, reflecting upon your own experiences with a small group that you may have been involved with…perhaps a Vistage Group, a men’s or women’s group or a tight bond of friends that gather regularly and purposefully to connect.

What makes a group bonded while it moves month to month and year to year as a living entity? I believe it is found in the shared history that the group creates. Gathering for meaningful conversation does require vulnerability.   It invites conversations of both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Such groups constantly paint on a landscape that connects the personal and the professional self.   Such groups constantly carry forward into each meeting the residue of goodwill and blessing that comes from knowing what trusted relationships feel like.

Meeting monthly with this group of men has become a special gift to my life.   It was the first time in my life that I had experienced such a bond. What I have found in the experience was surprising, as I believe it has been for the other men. What that means is…we have uncovered the shared worth of who we are to ourselves and to each other!

It was during 2008 our group made a big discovery together that would set into motion its influence for good. We discovered that we did not gather to create and initiate a shared agenda of action.

Instead, we discovered we gathered to explore mutual influence built on a principle…influence is organic not linear…as Sandra Day O’Connor concisely states in the weavings of individual threads from one to another creates something.

The men in this small group each bring their thread of good.   They know they are bonded by the mutual strength of the individual threads that connect and interact.

At any particular meeting we may talk about one or more of those individual threads. In doing so, it is obvious that the bond of trust that shapes the group does strengthen each individual thread…in its own time…and way… for expression and action.

Does this group have fun in its monthly weaving of mutual influence? Absolutely! Does it listen openly and hear stories of expectancy and sorrow? Regularly! Does it welcome new ideas? Always. Does each meeting end with optimism? Continuously! Does the group honor its commitment of mutual friendship? At its core!

These men…Dave, Jeff, Greg, Jeff, Bill and Denny are Difference Makers in my life. They have come my way for me to learn a valued lesson: The life threads of others is what makes the canvass of Life stunning and strong!

These men are symbol and substance of the Good that comes to us and through us as we make ourselves available to one another for grander purposes than getting for ourselves alone.

It is the weaving of the threads that ultimately shapes the influence for good at home, at work and in the community.

 Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams, Founder/President

Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge

www.ethicaledge.org

Posted in They Came My Way

A Relationship Story - It's All About The Mustard

Just how important are the details?  Well, perhaps it's better to ask "how important is being better than your competition?"

The details are the competitive advantage.  Buyers have the right to expect excellence.  Excellence simply must reflect, as part of its definition, an unwavering commitment to getting the details right. 

Let me illustrate this with a story about mustard (yes, mustard).  Up to the 1940's, Major League Baseball ballpark experiences had always been only slight variations of each other - all had games and hot dogs, but the creativity was pretty limited over the then 70+ year history of the game.  Then came Bill Veeck, and nothing would ever be the same.

Veeck bought the Cleveland Indians in 1947 and set out to entirely change the fan experience.  He also intended to win more games and fill more seats.  In fact, he led the Indians to their first (and only) World Series championship in 1948 and set an all-time Major League Baseball attendance record in the process (an attendance increase in just one year of an astounding 72%!)  There were many reasons, but the details of the fan experience played a major part. 

This insatiable innovator set out to create the most extraordinary fan experience possible.  He was famous for grandstanding with outlandish promotions that turned the conservative world of baseball on its ear.  However, the painstaking research and preparation he insisted upon really helped to create the right environment for magic to happen. 

Veeck personally evaluated every detail, including the choice of mustard for the hot dogs, ensuring that it was consistent with the pallets of the local fan base.  It just wouldn't do to throw out the conventional yellow bottle we all know so well.  He knew that getting people to the ballpark was a local/regional thing - the Northern Ohio fan was his market, not the average supermarket customer anywhere buying normal old French's.

I believe this story reflects a parallel with our business lives.  Following the lead of great innovators can help us focus our efforts and remind us of what is truly important.  Also, while Bill Veeck was a true maverick and a very controversial figure, the success of his team on the field was unmistakable.  I can’t help but believe that his attention to detail had a lot of influence on the team’s success – certainly a lot more than just having crazy promotions.  He insisted on as much focus on detail with his player decisions as he did with the mustard.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves how we might tailor our approach to our own customers in order to ensure we are focusing on the details that matter most.  Customers don't all need the same solution, but each of them definitely needs something specific.  We had better be thinking about what "mustard" our customer really likes and make sure to serve it every time, on time and under budget.  If we don't, our competition surely will.

Here's to paying attention, reading the tea leaves, and taking nothing for granted.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback.  Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value. 

Reference: Bill Veeck – Baseball’s Greatest Maverick by Paul Dickson

Sincerely,

Jeff Black

Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949   Office: (949) 529-2672

2 Venture, Suite 100    Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net    www.mbsearch.net    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story: Passion - Really Living

Sitting in a darkened arena, waiting for the unexpected - I just knew there must be something special about this guy.  Why had so many found this to be something they would not miss - time after time after time.  I'd been to a lot of concerts since the 1970's, but finally in 2012...it was time to see The Boss. This past April 27th, my close pal Roger Kraemer (President of ProActive Direct Marketing and a founding member of the DifferenceMakersOC organizing committee) treated me to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the classic old L.A. Sports Arena. 

I really had no idea what I was in for; I was also surprised to find that "it" actually had little to do with the songs, the lyrics, or even the message.  I simply could not believe the passion that was delivered.  The experience during the first 15 minutes was truly unbelievable.  The intensity of the effort by Bruce and the band...the pure emotion of non-stop power songs woven together brilliantly...the realization that this was all being delivered as a gift from the heart just for me (and the 15,000 other "mes" in the hall)...it actually brought tears to my eyes. I simply had no way to anticipate how much all of them were giving to all of us.

When we truly love doing something for others, they know it.  When we go through the motions, nobody is fooled.  Experiencing that show made me realize that I want to live that way all the time.  I want everything I do to approach, even a little bit, the amount of caring, concern and commitment that I felt in watching that show.

After the show, Roger said "that was the best concert I've ever seen".  I realized at that moment that I hadn't even thought to compare it to other such events. This was much more than just a concert; this was the Vin Scully of concerts.  It simply cannot be compared.

There are a lot of other examples of this kind of passion within great people in my life - the insatiably curious, those that are driven to achieve and discover new things, and the folks who care enough to truly make a difference.  You know a lot of these folks also, don't you?  These people inspire me just like Bruce did.  It is very clear that I am drawn like a magnet to people like this - as much as anything in my life, these individuals fuel my own passions.

How many of us encounter people that lack passion, that have too little soul, that don't really know what matters to them?  I know that, at least for me, this would be no way to live.  Here's to all of us finding what inspires us, living passionately, and committing our hearts and souls to what matters more to us than anything.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback.  Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value. 

References:    ProActive Direct Marketing  www.proactivedirect.com

Backstreets.com (April 27^th show set list included) - Bruce Springsteen Fan Site http://www.backstreets.com/setlists2012a.html

Sincerely,

Jeff Black

Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949   Office: (949) 529-2672

2 Venture, Suite 100    Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net    www.mbsearch.net    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

Jeff Black Featured on Radio Program - Critical Mass for Business

Please drag the green bar to the 25 minute mark once the video is downloaded to listen to Jeff Black discuss his search practice, what differentiates the practice and what he believes to be the key to achieving purpose through your career. 

A quick guide:

25:00   My background - How did I get here?
26:45   What differentiates my McDermott & Bull search practice?
31:30   My "Guiding Principle" - A focus on Difference Makers
38:45   The current environment in Executive Search
40:15   Emotional Intelligence
41:15   The importance of FIT as companies add new executive talent
43:15   A key learning - Becoming a servant
44:45   The Future - Staying true to my purpose and vision

Thank you for your support.  I'd love to hear your feedback.  Feel free to send me an email or call.

Jeff Black

Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949   Office: (949) 529-2672
2 Venture, Suite 100    Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net    www.mbsearch.net    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

"Just Do The Right Thing...Every Time"

A Relationship Story - What They Won't Forget

Sometimes, the unexpected can feel good – a recent email I received was a great example. It came from a fellow that I didn’t know but had invited me to connect on LinkedIn (and I realize this happens a lot for most of us). His follow up email caught me by surprise as it did nothing but thank me and express a willingness to be helpful if possible.

What’s so special about this for me? Well, we all sell ourselves in one way or another, but this note made me realize how different it feels when I’m not being asked for anything.

In my last story I quoted the philosopher Immanuel Kant and warned that I’d be doing it again – the additional Kant point that I knew I wanted to share was a key belief about how to treat others. Instead of treating others as a means to an end (the way so many emails and messages can feel), Kant’s guidance is that we need to treat people as an end in themselves, to consider them on their own terms. Perhaps this fellow’s email felt different to me because it wasn’t based on self-interest?

However, we still have to sell ourselves, don’t we? A bit of a paradox, eh?

I recently came across a quote from the poet Maya Angelou that offers a glimpse of insight that seems to help (at least it helps me): “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Of course it’s not easy to think first about how a message will be received by others – it’s so easy (and almost normal in our world) to focus first, if not always, on our own self-interest. I know this is really hard for me. But when I ask myself who the people and groups are that I most appreciate and respect, I have to admit that they are nearly always the folks that make me feel the most welcomed and valued. What do you find is true for you?

I suppose focusing on how we make others feel might not help us win the X Factor on TV and impress Simon Cowell, but I am hoping that there might be an appetite in our world for a bit more substance.

Here’s wishing all of us a little perspective as we consider how our messages and choices truly serve the other people in our lives.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 529-2672
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net
www.mbsearch.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull      http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

"Just Do The Right Thing...Every Time"

A Relationship Story - Corporate Social Responsibility - Survey Results ... and a Twist

My thanks to over 400 people who offered their opinion on the question posed in my recent story entitled: The New Perk – Social Responsibility (the original story is copied below).

The “Yes or No” question was:

“Do you believe that employee loyalty will improve as a direct result of the company choosing to be actively involved in support of charitable causes?”

Yes, there was a clear answer: 3/4 of the responses were YES.

This result does help us understand the “gut feel” impression that most people felt relative to the question. You probably aren’t surprised that I am happy to know that most people find corporate social responsibility to be a pretty good thing.

Now, obviously, the question of employee loyalty is hard to answer in a “black and white” manner. Many responses provided insights into the complexities associated with employee loyalty, and obviously corporate social responsibility is only one of many factors that define the relationship between a company and its employees.

I especially enjoyed one unique perspective that was shared by a few folks: A company should probably ask itself why it puts energy into social responsibility – is it because they “get something out of it” like employee loyalty, or is it because it’s the right thing to do? This idea really resonated with me after having recently read the book Justice by Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel addressing the subject across a broad spectrum of political/social philosophies.

It was Immanuel Kant that really got to me. I had heard his name but that’s all I knew about this extraordinary 18th century philosopher. Among other great concepts (you may hear about him again in a future story), it was his fascinating definition of freedom that fit so perfectly with this question about the motives associated with a company’s social responsibility. According to Kant, real “freedom” is making choices based solely on whether they represent the right thing to do – not making choices as a means to an end, but instead making the choice as an end in itself without concern for consequences, conditions or outside influences. Now I’m not suggesting this is easy – of course it isn’t – but wouldn’t it be nice if we could always just do the right thing?

Of course it’s totally “normal” for companies to think about most everything on a cost/benefit basis; why would we expect that their approach to social responsibility would be an exception without their conscious decision to think differently? However, the survey feedback clearly suggested that employees (and I’d expect customers, partners and everyone else) are enlightened observers as to the real motives behind a company’s approach to social responsibility.

Really, companies aren’t very different from each of us as individuals. Our motives are probably a lot more clear to others than we may realize. Here’s wishing all of us more clarity, conviction, and focus on doing the right thing.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Sincerely,
Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net
http://www.mbsearch.net/   
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

"Just Do The Right Thing...Every Time"

A Relationship Story - The New Perk - Social Responsibility

I want to share an idea and get your feedback.

In my retained search practice I get to see the way a lot of companies approach their business and their people – every company has a set of values that guide their reality and behavior (but these are not always the same as what is posted on the wall, if you know what I mean). As you might know, I find myself drawn to people and companies that value and commit to making a difference in our community. I find myself wondering about how a company’s focus on service to others might be a potential opportunity to better connect with their employees.

Three great examples of companies that do this well are Golden State Foods, Edwards Lifesciences and Panda Restaurant Group. In all of these companies, employees have a clear understanding that their company is committed to involvement in and support for charitible causes, and each company makes a conscious effort to actively involve their employees (and also to let their employees play a lead role in choosing the causes to support).

Also, each of these three companies appears to have a distinctively strong and special bond with their employees. I’m wonderering about the correlation between employee loyalty and these companys’ choice to make giving back a key focus of their cultural priorities and company identity?

Of course, this connection is surely not the same for every employee; great companies include a wide variety of people and beliefs. Sure, it’s easy to assume that employees who are, themselves, actively involved in the community would appreciate their company’s involvement in making a difference beyond the bottom line. Also, it appears that younger workers (the Milleneal generation) are characterized as seeking a high degree of meaning in their work, so perhaps there is some natural affinity among many in this group.

However, many employees are not motivated to be actively involved in support of charitable causes. So does a company’s contributive approach to the community have any positive impact on the connection with these individuals? If a company’s socially-conscious commitment yields reputation benefits and positive impressions from their customers, couldn’t employees that are not active in the community also be positively affected?

The answers to these questions may not be totally clear, and I don’t know that there is extensive emperical data that provides proof. So let’s create some of our own, shall we? I want to get your input on the simple question that follows. I will compile the answers and share them with everyone.

YOUR QUICK INPUT REQUESTED – Please send a quick email back to me with your YES or NO ANSWER to: “Do you believe that employee loyalty will improve as a direct result of the company choosing to be actively involved in support of charitble causes?”

A Quick Business Update: I was thrilled to have been engaged for a search by a leader that had recently been a candidate of mine in a search – after joining a new company she recommended me and told her CEO that her experience as a candidate with me was so positive that she wanted the same approach to be used with candidates for their company.
Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net
http://www.mbsearch.net/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull    http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

"Just Do The Right Thing...Every Time"

How Candidate Experience Can Impact a Company’s Brand

Recently an executive leader had an unexpected experience in a retained search with our firm. I believe this helps illuminate how candidate experience can be a key to a company’s brand and “success” in recruiting.

The former SVP of HR for a nationwide retailer was a candidate in the VP of Field HR search that I am conducting for the Panda Restaurant Group; she interviewed with the client but found the role wasn’t the right fit. However, her experience with me and our firm would lead to a special next step.

Upon this HR leader taking on a new top HR leadership role, she promptly called and asked me to perform a search for her new company. I was very pleased when she told her CEO how her experience as a candidate with me was the way she wants candidates for their company to be treated and evaluated by a search consultant.

While this has happened other times in my 9+ years as a search consultant, it seems timely to share this recent experience, as I would suggest that any company should be mindful of how they are being represented by a search partner in these vital candidate development relationships. Here are some key reasons:

Impressions Impact Brands: Companies take their internal recruiting processes very seriously, and I have heard the term “candidate experience” from an HR executive to describe it as a key internal recruiting priority. So why would the impression made by external partners be any less important?

Candidates who are enriched and reinforced by their interaction with a search consultant gain a greater affinity for the company who could be their next employer. On a retained search, we find ourselves talking to very influential people in the market. Our client’s brand is materially impacted by the way that we, as a search partner, interact with each candidate and tell our client’s story in a passionate and truthful manner.

In addition, the choice of a search partner also reflects on a company’s business practices, and I often suggest to candidates that their experience with me is a reflection of how my client company makes decisions.

Interviewing – Advocating for Our Client: I believe that interviewing by a search consultant must be a way to both tell our client’s real story and also to get to know the truth about candidates – I believe it must be much more than just a confirmation of achievements and accomplishments. This interviewing approach is what created this recent “candidate turned client” opportunity. Candidates often comment that their interview with me was both self-reflective and also a great way to learn what’s most important to the company they might join.

This process starts with listening to our client from the start – spending time to get to know key people, but more importantly to try to understand the culture, values and foundation of a company, or otherwise stated: “what’s most important”. The way a candidate is drawn to join a company is about a lot more than money or title. I find that most people wish for a professional opportunity that aligns with what they consider most important in their lives.

Interviews for our clients need to be relationship building experiences. In order to really get to know a candidate, sharing insights into the client company is the beginning of building trust. This trust is critical to enable candidates to share real insights into themselves – to help us learn about their motivations, their principles and their ideals. I believe these are critical insights our clients really need. A healthy relationship established with a candidate during our interviews is the beginning of the critically important relationship needed between candidates and their future employer.

A Distinctive Approach to Retained Search

Some think Retained Search is a commodity. My clients seem to believe that what we offer is distinctive.

Of course, our firm is great at candidate sourcing and recruiting and we offer a highly professional approach to representing our clients; also, our consultants’ have career backgrounds (including my own 20+ years) as corporate senior executives, providing us a client’s perspective.

However, the experience of candidates is a critically important element of success for our clients on our search projects. Our focus on candidate experience provides our clients with a tremendous jump start for a successful relationship with a future member of their leadership team.

Please let me know if I can help your company or other growing organizations.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 529-2672
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net http://www.mbsearch.net/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

"Just Do The Right Thing...Every Time"

A Relationship Story - If Van Morrison Only Knew...

I have a family of Brown Eyed Girls, and that song has always been a big favorite among the four of us. We used to listen to it driving around with our daughters when they were little. You might have a similar experience with songs that matter a lot to you.

Recently, the four of us attended a wonderful event together – a wedding in the family of our younger daughter’s long-time boyfriend. We were sitting with our older daughter and her boyfriend and enjoying a nice time. Then the DJ played Brown Eyed Girl. Immediately, I was transported back 20 years and could hear them both singing along in the back seat.

I sprang into action. I just knew that we had to have a “family moment” as this special song was playing, so my hand shot up to flag down our younger daughter to come over and join us. I waved and I waved but to no avail. She didn’t see me. Then I realized something really important.

She didn’t see me because she was playing a valuable role that day. Her boyfriend’s family was really busy and needed another pair of hands and she knew she could be helpful. It seems she naturally was.

At that moment, I had to let go, just a little, of one of my Brown Eyed Girls. She wasn’t the little girl in the back seat anymore; she was the adult, doing exactly what was needed at the moment. Being a parent is tough sometimes, but I guess we have to let them go to be what they are destined to be.

Now, I suppose, Van the Man might not be quite as sentimental about this experience as I seem to be. He probably isn’t really conscious of some knucklehead and his family in Southern California who love his 40 year old song. He may not care, but he might be surprised that what he “said” with this song is still sticking with people so many years later.

It makes me think about how each of us really never know what impact we have on others. Obviously, the big things always matter, but it seems that even the smallest interactions with others might be significant – and we really can’t know what will be. While I know that I mess up all the time, I’m trying more and more to remember that what I say, how I treat people, and what “comes naturally” to me could possibly have a big effect on others. We really can’t know for sure.

I’m sure each of us has stories to tell about how little things have mattered a lot. Have you ever recalled something that was significant in your own memory, but when you mentioned it to someone else who was also there, they don’t recall it at all? We really don’t know what will matter, do we? Here’s to keeping in mind that how we choose to behave makes a difference in the lives of others, and even the small stuff matters.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Quick Business Update: I’m excited to announce that Zena Peltier (peltier@mbsearch.net) has joined my practice as Associate Consultant. Having come off a very strong 2011 we want to be prepared for increasing client needs in 2012 as the labor market for high-impact talent is clearly tightening. We stand ready to help.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net http://www.mbsearch.net/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - The Consensus Experience

I admit it, I’ve lived my life from a highly individualistic perspective. That’s how my family worked, and I know it’s pretty normal in the American culture. That’s a good thing, of course, but what surprises me is that I’m just now realizing how different this makes Americans from much of the world…and also why that matters so much.

Earlier this year I was in a seminar led by a truly expert voice on ethics and leadership, Father Robert Spitzer, and I asked him why the same choice can be considered ethical by one person and unethical by another. His answer helped me learn, for the first time, that half the world approaches life from a collectivist perspective (including most Asian cultures) – decisions are always first considered through the lens of “what’s good for the group” as opposed to the individual-rules viewpoint.

So, a choice can be considered right by one person based on the best interest of the group, while that same choice can be unfathomable through the individualistic lens. Think for a minute how this can affect relationships in our lives – such fundamentally different perspectives can create a lot of confusion and conflict. In The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar, a fascinating book about the science of choice, these differing cultural perspectives were confirmed as a key distinction in how people make choices. Perhaps this helps to explain one source of clashing cultures in our world.

This is so simple, but how did I get into my 50’s before I learned anything about this? I must have missed that session of Sociology class. Is it just me? Does everybody else already realize this? When I mentioned it to one of my wisest friends, also in his 50’s, he said he had just recently been exposed to this idea himself for the first time. What a relief! I’m not alone.

Then it struck me how a great experience of mine over the past 5+ years has been teaching me this insight all along…and I didn’t even realize it. I have been a volunteer with The Ethical Edge serving on the selection committee for the Leaders of Integrity Awards presented annually for excellence in ethical leadership (these awards were just presented on November 1st). The committee process represented a glimpse at the intersection between the individualistic and collectivist perspectives.

Each of the dozen committee members started as advocates for their own nominees and passionately told the story of extraordinarily ethical people. Then an amazing thing happened. The individual advocacy ended and the group entered a new world – reaching consensus. This may sound easy, but having done this now with 5 or 6 different groups of committee members, I find that my own amazement at the consensus experience has been shared by most every first-time committee participant. Releasing our own passionate advocacy position is harder than we may think. However, when a group commits to a common goal, it can get beyond self interest and really think as one mind.

Until now I never understood why this experience was so unique. Learning what reaching a true consensus feels like – a group decision that strives for a goal larger than each individual, a “greater good” thing – was an epiphany for me because it was a glimpse into the collectivist culture that was previously unknown to me. In the largely Machiavellian and competitive world where we live, this was a truly breakthrough experience.

I find it is enriching to take a break from my naturally individualistic mindset and see how the other half lives (thinks, actually). I believe that many relationships in my life can be better because of this understanding. Perhaps you might want to give it a try for yourself - whether your natural frame of reference is individualistic or collectivist – try to understand the other half of the world. Your relationships might also be better for the effort.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

References:

The Ethical Edge http://www.ethicaledge.org/
The Art of Choosing – Sheena Iyengar http://sheenaiyengar.com/the-art-of-choosing/ TED Video: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 529-2672
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - The Source of Rewards

Challenge

On a mountaintop, way up there, something waits. It’s too far and too foggy to see. What is it? What is it waiting for?

The trees change as you climb. Elevation is a funny thing, what with the thinning air, the huffing and the puffing, the natural selection. Yeah, elevation, and the climb itself, are funny things.

There are signs along the way. Some provide directions, some warn of challenges, some just offer encouragement. Imagine the climb with no signs, or worse yet, with signs that lie.

Coming down past us is what seems to be a constant stream of attempts. They are dressed in different ways and they have different attitudes, and they just keep on coming. How should that make us feel?

Isn’t it annoying when you want to keep moving, the clock is ticking, the daylight deadline approaches, but you find you have a rock in your boot and you just have to stop? It’s not enough dealing with the hilarious climb, the signs of dubious character, and the ticking of the bomb, but then you get to struggle with something that matters so little but can’t be ignored!

But even though the climb seems impossible, the fog is finally clear, and the goal is finally in sight. Who could have known that on that mountaintop was nothing but an excellent view above the clouds?


I wrote that poem in 1999 while I was trying to decide on my future – I didn’t leave my life as a corporate leader until 2002. I have thought about this poem many times over the years.

It pleases me to look back and realize that, even then, I was able to understand that the journey is life. Even when it’s annoying, the journey is life.

Life is not rewards – it’s not what society tells us we’ll find on the mountaintop.

I see happy people in my life who are focused on living the journey, and living every relationship along the way. I guess it’s no surprise that many of them seem to also receive rewards of many kinds.

In recent years I have found that the view above the clouds, as well as the exercise of the climb, are really good things. I realize that it’s all just a part of the journey. Perhaps it can be even better if I can share a smile, or better yet a helping hand for the folks going by me every day. Now that is an inspiring idea!

A very close friend of mine has had a huge loss to deal with recently – it makes me realize how good I have it. I see that friend handling this with such extraordinary grace and peacefulness – thereby inspiring and reassuring everyone touched by the truly generous way this friend is choosing to live. I’d like to suggest that this is the kind of “helping hand” I hope to offer. If my truly generous friend can do it while recovering from a great loss, then I know I can do it.

Perhaps we all can. Generously helping others may be the greatest source of rewards we’ll ever find. Happy helping to you all.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

A Quick Business Update – Growing business confidence is clearly reflected in our firm being very busy right now. I am personally very pleased with the successful completions over the past few weeks of the 4 great search projects listed just below. I’d welcome the opportunity to help you or companies you know with key leadership additions.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net http://www.mbsearch.net/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - The Geek's Secret

Are you inspired or are you bored? What makes the difference?

I remember when my kids were growing up around their nut of a Father and I’d say “It doesn’t matter if you are passionate about the things I am…just make sure you are passionate about things!” Not having cool things to be fascinated with seems like a path to being bored; unfortunately, this might also mean “boring”, and it’s hard to get ahead that way. Some great geek examples include:

- My friend who is reading all the Pulitzer Prize winning novels…
- Traveling with my buddies to Miami & Atlanta to visit two more Major League ballparks (my 35th and 36th), to Daytona Beach where Jackie Robinson first played as a pro, and to Birmingham for a game at the oldest ballpark in the country where my Dad sold concessions in the 1930’s…
- My friend who has painstakingly catalogued forty years of amateur music “jam” recordings he has made with his best friends…
- The OC non-profit youth theater Producer sitting in the audience to see her former prodigy student starring in Wicked on Broadway…
-Spending six hours with three other geeks listening intently to each of our carefully selected rock/pop/R&B/jazz/folk songs from the 60’s and 70’s – and discussing and/or laughing about each one…
-My history-teacher daughter who zooms off to Washington D.C. on her Spring Break because she “needs” to see all the American history sights…

Not all necessarily important…but also not boring. I’m sure you have your own examples.

However, this concept applies to business as well. A favorite client of mine, Panda Restaurant Group, puts a ton of importance on curiosity and lifelong learning as critical characteristics for people on their team. I believe this fascination with new ideas and insights is closely aligned with people’s tendency to be passionate and fanatical about their interests. The concept of “can’t get enough” is what comes to my mind in both cases.

Another way that our passions can really matter is reflected in the “real” contributions of many successful people by volunteering with non-profit and charitable causes. It’s easy to write a check, but sharing your time and insight with a cause calls for true passion.

I feel fortunate, through my roles on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Orange County (http://www.ymcaoc.org/) and through my involvement with the Ethical Edge (http://www.ethicaledge.org/), to be around many inspired contributors who are professionally successful and also devote time and energy to making a difference. Both of these groups welcome new volunteers – just let me know if you’re interested.

The “passion effect” of being involved in a cause is powerful, but for me, the impact is even greater because of the shared energy of being around other passionate people. Try it if you don’t know what I mean.

Perhaps, like me, you’re among the lucky ones who are truly passionate about the work they do. Even if that’s not true for you here’s to each of us getting to spend time doing things we really love – we’ll surely be better at our day jobs when we also get to feed our passions. Do it for fun, and do it to make a difference too, and perhaps some of our “have-tos” can start to feel more like “get-tos”.
Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.
Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net http://www.mbsearch.net/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

Relationship Story - The Real Stuff

While listening to the radio recently I heard a press briefing by a U.S. Military Colonel leading troops in Afghanistan; it illuminated something really powerful about people like this Colonel – truly straightforward and unequivocal candor expressed by a leader whose decisions are significantly more serious than any I will ever make. He fields the toughtest of questions with a truthfulness and passion that allows me to almost see his steely-eyed gaze through the radio. He seems to know that everyone is best served by his ability to leave no doubts about his meaning or intent.

So, what does this truth and candor thing mean to our professional lives? After 20+ years as a corporate leader and the last 8 years as a retained search consultant, I’m amazed at how much I continue to learn about myself and about relationships. Looking back on my corporate life I doubt if I fully understood what real “truth and candor” meant. There often seemed to be a certain way of saying and doing things that didn’t always start with truth or candor – do you know what I mean?

During the past 8 years of great business relationships, over 100 successful search projects, and after growing up a little bit too, the real value of truly candid conversations with clients is becoming increasingly clear to me. Now don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t suggest that it’s always easy. After all, this was not the way I was taught to see the business process earlier in my corporate life, so it is certainly not automatic.

One particular client relationship from my first year or two in search still sticks with me – I have never felt right about how the relationship turned out. After our initial success working together, a problem came up and the ideal solution wasn’t clear. I guess it’s inevitable that things don’t always go perfectly, but looking back now I know that the necessary relationship-ensuring conversation didn’t happen.

Research on customer service shows that clients are much more loyal when there has been a problem that has been solved than if there had never been a problem; I realize that I may have missed the opportunity to earn loyalty by turning that problem into a mutually agreeable solution.

Over the past few quarters, as my search practice has been expanding by serving new and existing clients, challenges still occasionally come up on search projects – again, that seems inevitable in complex and nuanced business situations (probably, I suppose, a lot like your own situations). However, during the past several years, those vital challenging conversations are an increasingly valued part of strong client relationships.

It is more clear than ever how powerful the right “truth and candor” consulting can really be for clients…even when it’s hard. Clients (and we all have them whether we are service providers or corporate leaders) may not expect things to be perfect – but they certainly should expect the tough conversation will happen when it matters most.

And, after all, isn’t the real stuff of a Colonel in Afghanistan something worth believing in, and couldn’t we gain some perspective from it for ourselves?Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Partner, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

Relationship Story -- Leadership by Getting Out of the Way

I have the best job in the world – I get to meet high perfoming, fascinating people all the time – clients, candidates, partners, leaders of all kinds - and learn their unique success stories. I always want to know what kind of business environment gets the very best out of people and teams. The answer is almost always a version of the same theme:

“Give the people what they need to succeed and just let them do it”

In the great new leadership book, TOP Box Leadership by William C. Sproule, these themes are explored in a highly compelling fashion. The book informs, teaches, and entertains as Sproule captures the essence of macro-management by showing how gathering the best Talent, setting the right Outcomes, and defining clear Parameters for team decision-making leads to great teams and exceptional results…and then the leader needs to get out of the box and let people do their jobs. I strongly recommend this book to leaders in any environment.

Sproule’s book highlights a subject that totally fascinates me – the conscious choice about the culture within a company. This is one of the most compelling learnings for me as I work with all kinds of companies in helping them build and improve their leadership teams. I believe that the culture of a company, and I define that as “what really matters here”, is fully under the control of the leaders in a company. Sproule’s book suggests a disciplined way to establish a successful culture, and it starts from the leader.

It seems to me there is nothing more important than creating enough freedom for smart people to do what they think is right. Now, admittedly, this is a bit hard to argue…a little like saying “freedom is a pretty good thing” (a quote from my favorite movie – Field of Dreams). However, it’s the source of organizational freedom that I think really matters, and why I believe that culture is in the control of true leaders.

If a leader wants to allow his people to think freely, and thereby get the most from their contributions, it’s not enough to just empower them (do you notice we don’t hear that word a lot any more in business writing?) It goes further than that. The leader has to really trust the people on his team – to genuinely believe that everyone is pursuing the same goals. If there is a doubt about this alignment, the result is the dreaded disease we all hate in business…politics!

Think of the image of pulling a rope together. A leader’s job is to LEAD definition of the rope and what is on the other end (process and goal, or Parameters and Outcomes according to Sproule). Also, there must be clarity on the makeup of the team pulling the rope (Sproule’s concept of Talent). However, I believe the key ingredient for this to actually work is a prevailing trust that binds the people with each other, along with both goal and process.

A leader who cannot engender trust is likely afraid of losing something – perhaps it’s control, maybe it’s credit, or it could even be identity. However, any of these reasons means the leader will never really be able to get the heck out of the way and let people be great. In seeking outstanding results and long-lasting success, focusing on process will never get us to the promised land unless a foundation of trust keeps the sands from shifting under our feet. Trust begets greatness.

I’d love to hear what you think about this. After all, everybody sees important things like this in their own distinctive way, and thank goodness for that or things would be really boring!

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Recommended Resources: TOP Box Leadership – William C. Sproule www.topboxleadership.com

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

Relationship Story -- Being Ourselves – Bravery or Necessity?

Is it brave to be real? We all have a choice to make every day – are we going to be ourselves, or are we going to fake it?

Many of you may have read my last story, “Our Legacy in the Stories People Tell” (copied below); a comment from a dynamic entrepreneur really hit home as the perfect topic for a follow-up to that story. He said: “Interesting how you are so open personally with your client base and referral sources - definitely brave of you!”
I thought about this a while and realized that sharing thoughts and observations about my life, the business world, and the great relationships I have is, in fact, rather personal. But why do it this way?

I was reminded of three people who have influenced me with their unique ability to be themselves – maybe they will make you think of similar people in your lives:

There was Captain Ed Whelan who I worked with when I was just getting started as a business unit leader in my corporate life. He had been a career officer in the Navy and I was lucky enough to benefit from his mentorship during his second career. I still remember how comfortable he was in his own skin – he naturally made everyone around him comfortable as well. He tried hard to help a fairly clueless young leader understand the benefits that authenticity might offer me – clearly he believed that was the kind of leadership people really wanted. While I wish I’d been able to listen better back then, I have never forgotten his message.

Then, over the past 12 years, I’ve been learning from the passionate and authentic leadership of Janice Kraus, the Founder and Producer of the nonprofit Stagelight Family Productions, a youth theater program in Orange County. My daughter and thousands of other kids like her have received a huge confidence boost from the experience of performing and being part of a great team effort, so the benefits for the kids are unmistakable. However, it is Janice’s authentic and uniquely personal leadership that makes the program a true community. The experience is not just for the kids – the unique culture of trust that Janice creates is inspiring to parents and kids alike.

And now, in recent years, I have been able to work alongside a great volunteer leader who inspires me with his own special brand of authenticity - Rick Donahue, the Board Chairman for the YMCA of Orange County. Rick has an uncanny way of allowing his natural realness and seek-no-credit approach to bring out the best in everyone. He is always able to laugh at himself – he obviously has great self-awareness and quiet confidence – and he disarms much of the anxiety that can easily arise in such a group. Also, because of his passionate external focus on our charitable mission, he makes everyone uniquely comfortable and inspires a common passion in all of us.

So, is it brave to be real or must we be real to be truly effective?

These three examples are a lens for looking at ourselves and they help me know why being personal is a necessity for me – besides it just feeling right, I also know I’d be a terrible fake (I’m not a good enough actor!)

Give yourself the gift of thinking about people in your world who are great at being authentic. You never know, there just may be a nugget of brilliance there that can teach a great lesson.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Resources:

Stagelight Family Productions – www.stagelightproductions.com
YMCA of Orange County – www.ymcaoc.org
Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - Our Legacy in the Stories People Tell

What indelible impressions are we leaving on others? Let’s be honest, we think we’re really important, but even the biggest footprints in the sand wash away by morning.

However, we are creating lasting memories for the people in our lives every day. What will they remember?

My Dad was a great man. No, he wasn’t perfect – how could he be growing up in the Depression with a single Mom, living like nomads until he was an adolescent, moving from relative to relative? And dealing with getting only an 8th grade education, two years in a tent in North Africa serving in World War II, and leaving Alabama for a California entreprenurial dream that was stolen away from him too soon? No, he wasn’t perfect, but he was a great man.

And not because he achieved storybook fame and fortune coming from modest means – not that version of “great”. My Dad worked hard as a 33-year union man with Hughes Aircraft while moonlighting as a watchmaker at home in the evenings – he was always so busy that I appreciated the times he would break away to play catch with his sports-crazed son. No, he didn’t conquer the world, but he was a great man.

And not because he achieved major acclaim in the community by being the President of this or the Grand Poobah of that. He was a valuable part of groups like the Masonic Lodge, and a volunteer par-excellance in all the worlds where my brother and I were involved, but he never “led” anything. No, he was not prominent, but he was a great man.

Now four years after he left us at age 84 I look back on his life and realize what greatness really means. To put it simply - everyone loved my Dad. He has always been remembered so fondly by everyone who knew him – family, friends and the people he worked and volunteered with.

• My brother and I just went to a family reunion in Alabama and everyone raved about how wonderful “Charlie” had been – and the reunion was with our Mom’s side of the family!

• Early in my corporate life at Hughes (where one of his watchmaking customers gave me my first job) I was a brash, energetic, and pretty annoying young guy, but anybody that knew I was Charlie Black’s son immediately treated me like I was okay with them.

• My Dad embodied the true definition of volunteer – I still cherish a special carved hatchet he made for every kid in our tribe as an invitation to a YMCA Indian Guides meeting – where did he find the time to make those while working two jobs? Anything I ever learned about helping others I learned from his example.

I could learn from my Dad’s life that it’s not about being perfect, it’s about persevering through challenges and leaving the campsite cleaner than you found it (both literally and in relationships); I could learn from my Dad that not everyone conquers the world, but working really hard makes a difference to everyone around us in addition to ourselves; I could learn from my Dad that giving our time and talent in a caring way is our greatest volunteer gift – we impact people’s lives whether we are a leader or not.

Maybe it would help us all to remember that the stories people tell, and will tell about us, are most likely about how we made them feel – I truly believe that is our best way to really matter. That’s the kind of greatness we can all truly hope to realize.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

A final tribute to my Dad – this story intentionally coincides with the Angels hosting the MLB All-Star Game. While my brother and I (both life-long Dodger fans) could never really understand it, Dad always loved the Angels and we couldn’t convince him otherwise – like I said, he wasn’t perfect!

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

Relationship Story - Real Perspective

I remember my late 30’s – 15 years married and two daughters in elementary school. My volunteer life, like most parents at that stage, was attached to the girls’ activities like YMCA Princesses, Girl Scouts, and softball. I was busy building a career while trying not to miss the kids’ things, and helping a little whenever possible. I’m sure I whined a lot too. I clearly didn’t realize how good I had it.

A few years later I got to experience an extraordinary volunteer community - youth theater - parents who spent tons of time and energy volunteering but also bonded like no other volunteer group I had seen. There was something special about the shared experience of making magic happen on stage while enabling a huge growth experience for the kids.

The MIB’s (the “B” is for Back, as in Backstage) worked tirelessly building sets and as backstage crew for the shows – always in back, always in the dark, always unsung. Recently one of those selfless difference makers – a wonderful Dad in his late 30’s with two teenage daughters – went to the hospital with a mystifying viral disease. He didn’t come home and our world was deprived of this wonderful man.

Perhaps I caught you by surprise with this sad story, however, it helps me make two important points about real perspective. First…it reminds me that I have no right to whine about anything. The second point I want to share (and more importantly remember myself) is far more powerful.

The community outpouring of concern and direct help for this family is fantastic, and it’s what we might hope for from a family-oriented group like this. It is so natural for caring people to want to “do” something to directly help, just like we feel about disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. Sometimes we can do something directly; most times we cannot and we often wish we could do more.

What compels me is that a terrible loss like this is a reminder – no, a call to action – to keep doing my best serving others in my own personal ways: as Board Development Chair for the YMCA of Orange County; as a connector for difference-making people and causes; by sharing ideas like this story and reminding others to keep doing their “best”; and just by being constructive and considerate with the people in my life.

Things such as the blatantly unfair passing of such a fine man must remind me of my own responsibilty to do what I can, where I can…and without whining, ever. I’ll keep trying to stay true to this commitment, and I hope all of you will as well. A little bit of real perspective for all of us just might make a big difference.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Also, funds are being raised for the college education of the two girls left without their Dad. Let me know if you want to know more.

Great Community Resources:

Stagelight Family Productions: www.stagelightproductions.com

YMCA of Orange County: www.ymcaoc.org

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblackmcdermottbull http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - Ethics, One Simple Choice at a Time

I remember a few years ago how my leadership coach Vance Caesar helped me understand an unexpected truth about ethics. I talked about a time when I was angry and expressed it “loud and clear” to another person. Vance said, “Do you realize that you were being unethical?” I said: “What do you mean, unethical? I wasn’t unethical, I just got mad.”

Vance asked me: “Do you think there were hurt feelings” – I had to admit there were; “Do you feel good about having done it” – I had to admit I didn’t; “Do you wish it could have been different” – again, I had to admit that I did. “So,” Vance said, “You had a choice to make and you made the wrong choice, so it was unethical.” I didn’t enjoy that much, but I had to admit he was right.

We have choices to make all the time, and while the alternatives are not always clear, I believe there are times we just turn a blind eye to our own “wrong” choices. I know that I do.

Leadership and Self-Deception, by The Arbinger Institute, is among the most powerful books I have ever read – in part because of that ethics lesson I learned from Vance. The book tells the story of a leader who discovers significance in the simple choices we make every day.

It describes how relationships constantly present us with choices about how to treat another person, and we most often know the “right” thing to do. When faced with these forks-in-the-road, we have the option to choose what we know is right, and thereby “honor” our best judgment.

Taking the other road and choosing to knowingly deny our best judgment may often be more expedient or just plain easier. While this is sometimes true for us all, the author describes how this choice makes us guilty of “self betrayal.” But, we say, isn’t a wrong choice relatively insignificant by itself? Well…

When we choose what we know is wrong, we then have to make it right in our minds to avoid feeling guilty. We must build the case for why it wasn’t wrong after all - convincing ourselves of all the reasons why we’re so great and the other person isn’t. The more reasons we add to these mental lists, the more right the wrong decision seems.

This is “Self Deception” – what the author calls being “In the Box.” The big problem is…others are not fooled. If we deceive ourselves, and are not authentic, we create a trust barrier to good relationships (that’s the box image). Getting out of the box requires freeing ourselves from this self deception.

Ever since reading this book I find there is nowhere to hide when faced with these simple choices. As annoying as it can sometimes seem, I need to be honest with myself about what’s right at these moments – with my family, my friends, my colleagues, my clients, as well as with the next person I meet.

It may seem that making a constant series of right choices may be a tough commitment to live up to, but from a practical standpoint, think of all the energy it takes to deceive ourselves – not to mention the on-going relationship damage from being “In the Box.” I think you might agree, right choices seem like a good path toward freedom.

While the book focuses on relationships between people, my belief is that this idea can apply to just about anything we do. Maybe we should all try it today – we may just like how it feels.

Thanks for sharing time with me; as always, I welcome your feedback and please feel free to pass this message along to others who may find value.

Book Suggestion: Leadership and Self-Deception, Getting Out of the Box – The Arbinger Institute

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Managing Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
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