Though desiring to advance, many healthcare professionals have plateaued in their career and are unsure how to regain momentum. Obviously, they had an idea of where they were going when they started, but never took the time to actively and consistently plan and manage their careers which have resulted in advancement delays.

It is also not uncommon for well-meaning professionals to overlook particular skills that create the opportunity for advancement. Healthcare professionals can progress in their careers, but only if they position themselves for success.

I describe career planning like building a straight fence. You define where you want to go and then identify the points and steps it takes to get there. Each step moves you closer to the next one not farther away.

Here are some "fence post identifiers" that you will need to define as you are planning your career advancement:

• Why do I want to be successful?
• What is my definition of success?
• What are my career goals?
• What leadership or technical experience do I need to achieve those goals?
• What leadership or technical skills do I need to move to the next fencepost?

It is logical to think that improving your abilities will automatically advance you to the next fence post. Unfortunately, most executives often focus on mastering hard/technical skills and overlook developing soft/leadership skills. This critical misstep can delay career success considerably. Mastering soft/leadership skills like communications, conflict management, effective messaging, emotional intelligence, relationship building, etc., can be a highly effective way to move your career forward.

Career advancement requires a plan that includes the development of both hard/technical and soft/leadership skills to be successful. If you would like help honing in on these skills, give me a call. Together, we can map out a plan to that will help you regain your momentum and put you in a position to achieve your goals.

Heres to your success!

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I advise executive clients for Wiederhold & Associates and I don’t read every word of every resume. Do you think every recruiter and hiring manager does? Chances are they are not. One recruiter told me he takes about 10 seconds to size up a resume. A good resume first and foremost needs to stand out. Many executives have the same tired, basic resume format they’ve been using for fifteen years. Many people think it’s safe to have a resume like everyone else’s- that is certainly true. However, if you want to stand out, your resume first has to stand out.

What makes a good resume? One that the reader can paint a clear picture for the reader within 10 seconds. Stand out. Clear value proposition. Numerical accomplishments that hit as many pillars as possible. As an executive I bring in expertise to the organization when called for, so why don’t more people hire professional resume writers? They, like I used to believe, think they can write their resume on their own. For a nominal investment you can have an expert market your most valuable money-making machine - you. Resumes change every 2-3 years and you and I are not experts in that field. Make it easy on yourself and hire a great resume writer to make your candidacy stand out and clarify your value proposition.

If you want your resume to stand out, contact Jim Wiederhold for professional guidance on crafting your own brand and value proposition.

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If you have worked in healthcare for more than a few years, you have probably seen at least one crisis develop in your facility. Although every incident can become a crisis, there are some that happen that can have lasting effects for the facility and everyone it touches. Crises can be from a natural disaster, human error, regulatory non-compliance, to equipment failure. All have the consequences of affecting human lives to negatively impacting the institution both financially and its reputation. What is common to all of these situations are how you and your team react to them. I have found common steps to ensure that you can react quickly, efficiently, and minimize the negative effects.

• Policies and Procedures – All too often, leadership recognizes that a crisis can happen, but few believe it can happen to them. Because of this denial, many leaders may read the administrative policies and procedures when they first come on board, and never review or update them at least annually. It is extremely important to know your crisis plans and review them annually. The time to become familiar with you plan is not in the middle of a crisis.
• Drill, drill, drill – The old saying, practice makes perfect is critical in the middle of a crisis. Practicing not only a disaster drill such as a fire or bomb threat, but also when JCAHO or the State comes in for an unannounced visit will go a long way to putting calm in the chaos. When everyone knows their role in the plan, everything goes much smoother. In addition, outsiders, such as inspectors or even the public, will gain a sense of calm and confidence in your team if everyone reacts according to the plan.
• Be the leader – If you are the one responsible for leading the institution, everyone will be looking to you for clues on how to react. If you seem rattled or unsure, your staff will also be rattled and unsure. If you present confidence and surety, the actions of your team will also demonstrate the same. If you are familiar with the plan and follow it, the crisis will play out more favorably than if you are unsure of your and your team’s role.
• Trust your team – They are there for a reason and should be experts in their roles. If you have practiced drills and ensured competence during a time of crisis, your team needs the space to do their job. Let them. It will go a long way to resolving the issue and building trust for the future.
• Communicate openly and honestly – There is a time and place to communicate what is going on in the facility, but when you do, and I recommend the leader of the facility being the spokesperson, being as open and transparent as possible can help stop rumors and defuse a potential media frenzy. The same message must be transmitted through all channels whether that is media, memos, or social media. Different messages will create confusion and distrust.
• Update often – If the crisis is one day, one week, or ongoing, keep everyone updated. A lack of communication will be filled with rumor and innuendo.
• Finally, debrief – When the crisis has passed, perform a thorough analysis of what happened and institute corrective measures.

You will experience a crisis in your institution. How you prepare and act during the crisis will define you as much as your success or failures as a leader.

I was recently attending a hospital association breakout session listening to two reputable healthcare systems present how they aligned their respective medical staffs to achieve quality outcomes. They demonstrated how they achieved reduced unnecessary admissions, reduced lengths of stay and the reduction of clinical testing and procedures. They specifically portrayed how they worked with their medical staffs to strive for best practice outcomes. Clearly the outcomes were impressive, but they neglected a key component of the Triple Aim: Reducing the per capita cost of healthcare.

Never once did they present actual cost reductions that their efforts rendered. When I posed the question about cost savings, the response I received from the two presenters was like it was the proverbial elephant in the room. They told me that they didn’t discuss cost to align their physicians “unless it was absolutely necessary”. They implied that they avoid it at all costs.

I disagree. My experience is that the cost of healthcare, or namely the waste in healthcare, needs to be shared with this key group of decision makers – our medical staff. Estimates of the money wasted on overuse each year range from around $200 billion to over $800 billion – between 10 percent and 30 percent of US health care spending. In 2010, the Institute of Medicine issued a report stating that waste accounted for thirty per cent of health-care spending, or some seven hundred and fifty billion dollars a year. The report found that higher prices, administrative expenses, and fraud accounted for almost half of this waste. Bigger than any of those, however, was the amount spent on tests that are overused, unnecessary or potentially harmful to patients.

Although it’s the “right thing to do”, I guess I can understand the presenters’ obvious trepidation to relate the cost savings to their physician partners. Sometimes it can be potentially career ending. For instance, I had a pulmonologist on staff that was a nightmare for our Case Management department. By himself, he accounted for 29% of all Medicare admissions and had a variance of the geometric mean length of stay for his patients of 2.5 days. His estimated uncompensated cost to the hospital was $1,818,300. Furthermore, we haven’t even touched on the cost of bad outcomes and malpractice cases, but I also had another surgeon on staff that was on the “watch list” for our Medical Malpractice carrier.

Sadly, both of these physicians were on the hospital’s Board of Directors and I paid the ultimate price for “doing the right thing”. They continue their ways unaddressed and I moved on.

Working with physician partners isn’t always negative, though. In the same institution the price being paid for physician preference items by my stand-alone hospital I had just become the CEO at was shockingly high. When I insisted that this egregious price difference for such things as cardiac stents and orthopedic implants be shared with the respective interventional cardiologists and orthopedic surgeons, the alignment towards the hospital point of view was overwhelming. Despite the fact that these physicians had close ties and relationships to the individual companies and/or the representatives, since they were astounded at the price difference they worked with the hospital to leverage an $8M annual savings for the same implants! It was the “right thing to do”.

My message is that reducing the cost of healthcare goes hand-in-glove with the other two prongs of the Triple Aim: improving the patient experience and improving the health of populations. You can be selective in how you share the cost information, but it must be shared with all decision makers in order to achieve the ultimate value.

It is my passion to equip people with the tools it takes to be successful. With that in mind, I have assembled a team of leaders that will help you gain the competitive edge you are looking for. One of the members of my coaching team is Joy Goldman.

Joy is an accomplished professional in leadership, physician development, coaching, and enhancing organizational effectiveness. I feel that you will find her insights useful and helpful.

-Jim

By Joy W. Goldman, RN, MS, PCC, Professionally Certified Leadership Coach

Research shows that 9 in 10 conversations miss the mark. Sometimes people may say to you, “I don’t have time to spend in deep conversations – they take too long.” By mastering Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ), what normally could take months or even years, can happen instantaneously. Below are three significant ways that Conversational Intelligence can impact your leadership success:

• Enables quicker, deeper connections. We see higher levels of trust, of partnering, and of teamwork. Our world is moving from an I-centric world (focused on self and independent leader) to a WE-centric world (focused on teams and collaboration).
• Provides frameworks for building TRUST. Trust is the human platform from which great conversations emerge. Patrick Lencioni identifies trust as the foundation for all effective teams. C-­IQ provides a new innovative framework for understanding how conversations shape our relationships, partnerships, our culture and our reality. C-­IQ introduces tools for creating higher levels of trust and higher levels of engagement, which strengthens partnerships, teams, and cultures.
• A scientifically proven method for improving engagement. Based on Neuroscience Research- specifically the Neuroscience of Conversations, C-IQ facilitates the accomplishment of results, while also fostering enjoyment with the process.

C-­IQ provides us with deep understanding about how every conversation has an impact ­on our brain. With this understanding, we can prime our conversations for impact and learn how to develop trusted relationships. Building trust comes from practicing inquiry. Click here to read an article on applying self-inquiry to achieve your goals.

Would you like to learn how to master conversational intelligence or other enhanced communication skills? Contact Joy today.

Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Every journey starts with the right attitude, passion, and confidence.

Many people find networking to be challenging. Most people find a way to do the things they are passionate about. If you're not passionate about networking, it is possible that you simply do not see the wealth of value that comes from developing a healthy network.

I've interviewed over 1500 people in the last 23 years. Not just a surface interview, but an in-depth interview. I always ask the question, "Where did you find your current job?" In 70% to 80% of the cases regardless of level, people found their next opportunity through their network, a relationship built over years.

The Value of a Healthy Network:

• Competitive Edge: A large and deep network will give you information, you could never reach in isolation. Too many of us become trapped within the four walls we work in.
• Resources: Tap into subject matter experts, fill positions, and gain valuable Industry information from known, credible sources.
• Reputation Management: Being attacked on the internet can tarnish your reputation. A large and deep network that supports and believes in you can minimize that situation.
• our Next Opportunity: I can't tell you how many times an opportunity was offered to a particular person because they were known within their network and "believed it would be a good fit." You can secure your next opportunity and your career with little competition through networking.
• Time in transition: It has been proven that there is a direct correlation between the size and depth of your network as it relates to the time you are between jobs. The better your network is, the shorter your transition will be.

Now that you understand why it is important to have a solid network, it should be easy to get passionate about expanding it. If you are unsure about where to begin, below are a few ideas to get you started

Keys to Expanding Your Network:

• Be intentional: Dedicate yourself to at least two calls a week.
• Choose wisely: Reach out to both people you already know but are not in regular contact with and new people you would like to connect based on your next career step, resources, influence, and information.
• Plan your call: Do your homework- there is so much information out there that you shouldn't have any problem knowing with confidence your opening line or question.
• Be Reciprocal: Give your audience as much value as they give you.

Enjoy the Journey

Not everyone will want to join your network, and that is ok! Keep trying. Expanding your network is a learned skill that will improve with practice. Develop a system that will help you recall information from past interactions and keep you on track to follow up in the future. As long as you are moving relationships forward, YOUR EFFORTS WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

If you would like more tips of how to add value to your network including in-depth training on what makes a great network call, then let me know. I am ready to share my secrets to success!

Jim

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Say the word “executive” to some people and it conjures up images of leather chairs and mahogany desks. In reality an executive’s job is to execute, or achieve results. At times we all get caught up in the storms that surround us- meetings, urgent issues, committees, etc. Just remember, never confuse activity with results. Like what? In healthcare we must achieve results in: service, patient safety, quality, growth, market share, service line development, cost containment, productivity, community benefit, employee/physician engagement, turnover, etc.

When executing, know where you are going. In order to execute you must have a X-Y goal in mind. For example, create a goal to grow market share from 22% to 50% in two years. If you are not clear where you want to go, how will others be clear? Relentlessly pursue your goal as that’s why we were hired- to execute and achieve results.

At the conclusion of your tenure with a given organization, know what you’ve executed. What was your X-Y in HCAHPs, profitability, turnover, market share, etc.? Clearly communicating these results to recruiters and hiring managers is the key to honing your value proposition. Remember- execution and results are the reason we get paid.

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Leadership is such a broad subject with many important subcategories.

We are in a time of great challenge to our leaders both inside and outside of healthcare. Great challenge creates great stress. Our leaders live and work in a fishbowl and must realize that every move they make whether it's verbal or nonverbal will be noticed and analyzed.

Good leadership, as with anything else, starts with character. Everybody wants it, but it has so many definitions. Everybody sees a lack of it in others but not in themselves.

I'm in the process of reading the book, "Louder than Words," by Andy Stanley. I'm not finished with the book but I'm enthralled with the subject matter. It focuses on the definition of character. Because I'm faith-based, I will adhere to Andy's following definition:

Character is the will to do what is right, as defined by God, regardless of personal cost.

So easily stated, it's so difficult to achieve. Perhaps it's like mastery, we strive for it, but never get there. For others who are not faith oriented, I would suggest defining what the right thing is but not changing the second half of the definition.

Leadership Starts Here: Doing the Right Thing

Secondarily, leaders did not get to where they are today without utilizing strengths that have made them successful. But under stress, those same strengths can become weaknesses. Beyond that, everyone has certain "derailers" that can be triggered by stress as well as other influencers. By giving into these triggers, the ability to keep good character intact becomes difficult.

Recognition, or awareness, of the "derailers" is not always present within the leader. Leaders should develop feedback mechanisms that they can rely on and will accept. Gaining awareness of these triggers/influencers is a highly valuable personal investment. Once these triggers are identified, passionately pursue how to change them.

In stressful challenging times, these two components are essential to successful long-term leadership.

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When interviewing, please keep in mind one simple rule- answer the question. An amazing number of people think that when they have the microphone (answering an interview question) they can talk as long as they want about whatever they want in an interview. This is understandable as candidates are excited and want to sell, however it’s a turn off to the interviewer.

Throw darts when interviewing- be concise, brief and use facts/numbers to support your answers. If they want more information, they will ask. Remember- the interviewer has a list of questions they want to get through. They can’t get through the interview if the candidate takes five minutes to answer every question. This is a major turnoff and it signals the candidate isn’t in tune with the employer’s needs.

To answer the question is to be a good listener. If someone asks you a yes/no question- answer with a yes or no answer. Listen intently to the words they are using and ask for clarification if need be. Don’t forget to mirror the interviewer- if s/he is a fast talker, then talk faster. If s/he is a slow talker, then slow down. The goal is to make a connection by listening and answering the question. Finally, only practice makes perfect when interviewing so practice with family, friends and colleagues and remember to throw darts, not hand grenades!

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Tell me about yourself… (hint - you only have two minutes!)

The famous question, “Tell me about yourself.” This is not an open invitation to incessantly talk for minutes on end about your life from start to finish in exquisite detail. I used to think everyone else thought my life was as interesting as I thought it was - wrong! The fact is, no one really cares (that much). You have two minutes to answer this question. And, it needs to be a structured answer that includes the following:

• Humanizer - make a connection and be likeable/personable
• Career progression - make sense of your career moves
• Value proposition - what are you known for?
• Personalize - what do you like to do? Make a connection and humanize.

If you only remember two things, simply be brief (around two minutes) and clearly communicate your value proposition. What are you known for? What is your calling card? Remember, organizations have needs and people have skills. Be clear about your skills and match them with the organization’s needs.

From my experience working with executives over the past 27 years I have learned a great deal about how executives tend to do a poor job in managing and planning for advancing their own career.

Before I share my observations with you on advancing your career, let's define manage and plan:

Though desiring to advance, many healthcare professionals have plateaued in their career and are unsure how to regain momentum. Obviously, they had an idea of where they were going when they started, but never took the time to actively and consistently plan and manage their careers which have resulted in advancement delays.

Gaining the Right Focus

It is also not uncommon for well-meaning professionals to overlook particular skills that create the opportunity for advancement. Even if they were lucky enough to have a mentor, most of that effort and time was focused on expertise rather than the soft skills necessary to become an excellent leader. Aiming at the right target will yield the best results.

Please join us for our upcoming webinar on May 25, at 2:00PM ET, where I will be sharing key ideas that will help you put momentum back into your career journey.

Learn More

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Everyone recognizes nursing plays a huge and vital role in our hospitals and healthcare systems today. Nursing, like any other area of healthcare, needs experienced coaches and mentors.

Please remember the optimum word here is experienced.

Here are some of my observations from my 27 years of healthcare experience:

• The aging of America will create more need for nurses and nursing leadership.
• Nurses don't seem to be very well represented in the CEO role.
• Because of their training, they seem to struggle with their assimilation into that role.
• Nurses move up into management roles within the nursing department because they were good nurses which doesn't always guarantee they'll be good managers.
• Like many others who are promoted into management roles, nurses are generally not offered a great deal of assistance as they move into these new and challenging positions.
• The chief nursing officer role is not attractive to younger nurses developing their careers.

Wiederhold & Associates believes that Nurse Leadership is an important area to invest in. We know that the very skills that make effective nurses (great communicators, creative problem-solving abilities and leadership acumen) are also the skills that make great leaders. With proper guidance, the transition into a senior leadership role can be very successful.

To maximize the success of our nursing clients, we have partnered with Nursing Leadership Coach Diane Scott. With her strong clinical background, Diane has a deep understanding of the nurse executive role.

Diane explains, "Senior nursing leaders usually are in charge of the majority of theworkforce of any healthcare organization. They are often promoted through the ranks and experience challenges with increasing their ability to critically think at their new leadership level. However, once they reach that level, the new challenge is the overwhelming desire to meet the mission of patient care and balance a seemingly polar opposite of managing the numbers, especially financials. They also struggle with developing a self-strategy for their career, finding it too self-serving and not patient driven.

The most successful senior nursing leaders learn that by increasing their own abilities, they can achieve their own potential, develop their managers as well as provide excellent patient care. In this way, everyone benefits under leadership that understands needs from the ground up."

At Wiederhold & Associates, we know an organization can optimally increase a nursing leaders’ capacity for successful outcomes through professional Nursing Leadership Coaching. It is the single most powerful way for a leader to achieve their potential for superior leadership, strategic thinking, and measurable results.

If you would like to learn more about our Nursing Leadership Program, download a tri-fold brochure here

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Hospitals/Health systems across the country are faced with increasing financial pressure including slow economic recovery, decreases in reimbursement, increases in uninsured or underinsured leading to increased bad debt write offs, and increased operating expenses.

Not surprisingly the result is more and more organizations that were financially sound find themselves either in financial distress or at least moving financially in the “wrong direction.” Turning around a hospital where finances are in decline requires extremely strong leadership from the top, ideally a CEO with prior experience leading a turnaround. This initiative needs to be supported by the hospital senior leadership team and board, and reinforced by engaged employees, physicians, and even members of the communities served by the organization.

Hospital turnarounds are not just about cutting costs. You can’t cut your way to long-term growth and profitability. You need to build programs that will financially support the hospital and meet the community’s needs through physician recruitment and capital investment. Cutting costs are a short term sometimes necessary endeavor, but long term success will only come from program volume and revenue growth.

It’s now essential in the current evolving environment to negotiate favorable contracts with insurers and other networks who control patient access and also consider the development of Accountable Care Organizations and other population health strategies. Finally developing key affiliations and networks with other hospital and healthcare providers are essential to strengthen your gaps in services and geographic coverage.

While no two turnaround situations are ever the same, just as no two sick patients are ever exactly the same, there are some common elements that all successful turnaround situations will have.

These elements includes the following:

• A strong visionary CEO with proven experience in leading a successful turnaround.
• A strong committed board that will support the CEO and put what is good for the long term survival of the hospital ahead of long-standing personal friendships and relationships and agendas and the short term pain and changes that may have to occur.
• A good comprehensive and realistic turnaround action plan based on an in-depth assessment of the hospitals financial, operational, cost structure, market position and also physician and community perception and support. The plan should identify specific goals and objectives and actionable plans with quantifiable metrics and assignment of ownership.

Implementing the turnaround plan:

• Implement plan with sense of urgency.
• Monitor results and modify tactics where necessary.
• CEO stays engaged / leads from “the front.”
• Divides resources/removes obstacles/drive changes forward.
• CEO and leadership team “walks the walk” and “talks the talk.”
• Communication -- CEO establishes robust communication process so that employees & physicians are kept fully informed of changes occurring and why they need to occur and to gain their support for the long term benefit to the organization.
• Publicize and celebrate the successes. Nothing breeds success, like success.

Going through a “turnaround” situation is one of the most stressful events for any healthcare organization to go through. With great visionary leadership and a good “plan” the organization will emerge not only more financially sound but with a “high performance” culture ready to move on new challenges.

You can see Davide Carbone's LinkedIn profile here

How often in my conversation with executives do I hear the statement, "he/she is good at reading the tea leaves" or "he/she is not so good at reading the tea leaves"?

What does it mean?

To me, it indicates a sense of external awareness of what's being said around you. When the action and the talk don’t align – you’d better take notice. Unfortunately, a lot of executives get so caught up in their own internal world that they are unaware of what's going on around them.

There's lots of evidence to support this lack of external awareness. In working with executives in transition, I often hear the statement “I never saw it coming.” As I review the details of their last 60 to 90 days of employment and then we review it together, the next statement I often hear is –“I should've seen it coming. Obviously, that executive didn't do a good job of "reading the tea leaves."

Now most of us are aware of the concepts emotional intelligence and political intelligence.

• Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
• Political intelligence is a thorough understanding of the interpersonal and political dynamics that organizational structures create and to know how to make things happen within this context.

We define these concepts in terms of both nouns and verbs. As you know, a verb implies action, and both forms of intelligence must have an action to be of any benefit.

Both terms suggest a strong emphasis on the external environment as well as the internal environment. As mentioned, too many executives become overly focused on the internal environment. By practicing the art of emotional intelligence and political intelligence you will learn to pay attention to the external as well as the internal and increase your ability to read the tea leaves.

Happy Reading,

Jim

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A big piece of onboarding is the ability to manage up- how you effectively work with your immediate Manager. My experience in this area indicates that we don't give this enough attention. The conflict that begins here usually ends up in one being asked to leave the organization or perhaps exiting too soon on their own.

Often, different styles, as well as egos, get in the way. Change the way you look at this relationship, and you will be more successful in building it. I haven't come across many people who “manage up” t extremely well, and it's such a necessary skill to one's future success. Embracing the employee/manager relationship is a critical skill to hone and managing up helps you master it.

Managing up means that you go above and beyond the tasks outlined on your job description. You continuously go the extra mile. Your job is to make your immediate manager’s life easier.

Ways to effectively manage up:

• Listen well
• Learn his/her style
• Jump in when needed
• Project a positive attitude
• Deliver quality work
• Keep him/her well-informed
• Build key relationships
• Sell/negotiate when appropriate
• Recognize what he/she respects and honors
• Create early wins
• Execute great follow up
• Establish a comfortable level of transparency
• Establish the rules of effective pushback
• When you have a challenge, always offer a solution
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Close information gaps
• Have a voice beyond your boss
• Keep commitments
• Apologize when you are wrong
• Don’t make excuses

Learning to effectively "manage up" can put you in a great position to align with your immediate supervisor, integrate effectively with the organizational culture, receive great recommendations, and ultimately help you on board effectively.

Coaching comes in many forms but the goal is to help you become the very best version of yourself as a leader, executive, and whole person.

As you know, I have been coaching executives for years to help them become their best. Through the power of technology, my coaching capabilities have been extended into a new dimension. I am excited to present the 2016 Webinar & Telebridge Series.

Webinars:

Once a month, Wiederhold & Associates will be inviting renowned speakers to address leadership topics in healthcare in this interactive online series. The next scheduled webinar is in April and will be free to ALL registrants. Beginning in May, we will continue to offer these webinars free to only our Premium Active Network Group members and current clients. There will be a nominal registration fee for everyone else. There are limited spots for each session so make sure you register early and take advantage of this opportunity to learn from national experts! Email us to request topics and dates.

Telebridge Calls:

As a new benefit of our Premium Active Network membership in 2016, Wiederhold & Associates will implement the following program each month. I am hosting a Telebridge (conference call) meeting with any of our premium active network members who want to participate. In that meeting, I will answer questions you may have related to your career, whether you are gainfully employed, in transition, or thinking of looking for a new position. This is sure to be a time of enrichment that will aid you in developing a lifetime of success.

Before each TeleBridge meeting, we will announce the initial topic of discussion. Once we conclude that topic, we will move on to other subjects relevant to the group. Our first meeting was an excellent discussion of interim work in the healthcare Industry from both sides of the equation. This will be the initial subject of our next TeleBridge Premium Active Network meeting. After the initial topic is addressed, any subject that the group wants to talk about is fair game.

I will facilitate these meetings as well as disseminate a summary to the participants from these sessions. The Telebridge calls are an excellent opportunity to learn and engage with relevant healthcare subjects.

Through these programs, you are sure to make valuable connections & gain critical industry insights throughout the year. I look forward to connecting with you.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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To execute well in a network meeting or an interview, you must present yourself in a powerful way. As most of you are aware, the elevator speech has long been utilized as a tool in this area. This presentation focuses on who you are, what you've accomplished and where you're going. At Wiederhold & Associates, we have refined the elevator speech and taken it to a different level.

We call ours the "2-Minute Presentation", and when done correctly, will connect you to your audience as well as align you with the opportunity or the situation.

The 2-Minute Presentation should be as close to 2 minutes as possible, be modified to fit different audiences and contain three distinct components:

• Humanization
• Elevator
• Differentiation

Basically, it's your elevator speech on steroids. Here's how it works.

Humanization

The goal is to make a connection. It's amazing what happens when you find a mutual connecting point to your audience. Remember, relationships are built on personal information, not business. Lastly, the power of the concept of "I, therefore, you." If I share something with you of a personal nature, you will feel compelled to share something with me. Connecting to people on a personal level is an essential part of both networking and interviewing.

Elevator

There are two key messages here:

• My career moves are logical.
• I'm clearly on the left side of the career bell curve and the best is yet to come.

The Differentiation Statement

The differentiation statement answers these two questions in a powerful way:

• Why should I hire you?
• What distinguishes you from other network connections or candidates?

Bring Your A-Game

Both networking and interviewing have become highly competitive. On top of that, people have limited time to give you. Bring your A-game with one of the most powerful tools you can put in your toolbox - a well developed 2-Minute Presentation.

Jim

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As one wise recruiter once told me, "You can have a B resume which may open the door but you must have an A interview to walk through it."

Let me share ten basic elements that consistently come up in our interview reviews that if addressed would make a world of improvement in your ability to interview and drive the right message:

1. Preparation: Know the five top critical elements of the opportunity and be able to address them with current experience and success. The five top criteria is the top five things they're looking for in their next candidate. Next understand the three other critical elements which are organization, position and location. Have specific information in each one as to your interest. The more specific the higher the impact.
2. Mirroring: A good interview is like a dance, both partners are in sync with each other. Mirror to match tempo, breathing, rate-of-speech, directness, etc. This makes each one comfortable with each other and sets the correct filter.
3. Listening to understand: We test this in every interview we do and the majority of people fail. We are so caught up in the world of listening to respond that we miss a vital part of the question.
4. Introduce yourself with confidence.
5. Take the lead: As you enter the interview, know exactly the statement you will make or the open-ended question you'll ask. Demonstrate your interpersonal skills and give yourself the greatest opportunity to connect with and engage your audience.
6. Put together an effective two-minute presentation which includes three key components to drive your message as well as connect with your audience. Those components are humanization, elevator, and differentiation/value statement.
7. Understand what a real achievement is and present that way.
8. Answer questions concisely, close information gaps and enhance the answer when it adds value to the original thought.
9. Always tell the truth but word it in a win-win presentation. This will provide consistency throughout the interview.
10. Brand yourself so that your message is consistent.

I've done a lot of interview coaching over the last 22 years. Historically, most people have a starting grade in their ability to interview probably somewhere around a B- to a C+ through no fault of their own. We just don't do well on things we don't practice consistently. But imagine if you took the time to develop a well-executed interview. What a significant way to separate yourself from the crowd in a very competitive market!

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First and foremost, I want to wish you much success in 2016.

The new year is a time to start new journeys. As you know there are journeys we choose and journeys that choose us.

So with that in mind, we took a real good look at the people we work with in career transition and found that the most successful ones had three consistent behaviors. Those three behaviors were passion, attitude and confidence.

Passion is one's intense desire or enthusiasm to do something. The level of passion for these successful individuals kept them on track even when there were challenges and bumps in the road. They did not roll over or quit when things got tough.

Attitude is how an individual's behavior reacts to a person place or thing. We live in a world where most individuals focus on the negative side of a challenge. Successful individuals took a more positive look at the challenge of career transition and focused in on the benefits that would result from this journey.

Confidence is one's assessment and feelings about their own skills and qualities. These successful individuals realized that they live in a deposit/withdrawal system. Unfortunately, withdrawals are automatic and deposits have to be made manually. They have learned how to make necessary deposits.

So as you begin your journeys in this new year remember to pack the right amount of passion, attitude and confidence. Because a good start usually means a good finish.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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I constantly hear the statement that nothing happens between Thanksgiving and New Year's day. That idea becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that can prevent you from moving forward in the new year.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's day is what I referred to as Relationship/Gratitude month.

It is the perfect time to build and solidify relationships by giving thanks to those that have helped you in the past year as well as those that will help you in the new year. This show of gratitude, when done without an agenda and with great sincerity, will strengthen business partnerships that can carry you into the new year and beyond.

As you all know, the opposite of gratitude is ingratitude. When you don't express gratitude and you assume the other person understands your perspective, what you really are expressing and certainly not intending to, is ingratitude.

Call up those people that have given you so much over the past six months to a year and just say thank you. Use the holiday season to send out cards to those you don't call. Individualize each card with a note and your own signature. Make your audience feel special. Remember, this is about quality not quantity.

Here's to a prosperous new year!

Jim

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