There's No Need to Bat .900

Recently, Adam Bryant, writer for the New York Times’ Coner Office column, interviewed John Donahoe, president and chief executive of eBay for the past year.  The condensed interview is today’s Turesday Reading – “There’s No Need to Bat .900”.

Donahoe has a lot of good advice:

•  You can’t change people.  …  Allyou can do is help them help themselves.

•  Spend more time illuminating what needs to be done.  If people choose to do it, great.  If not, get them into a role where they can do what they are good at.

•  Receiving feedback is liberating, it’s a gift.

•  Be more direct in communication.

•  Questions for job candidates:

– when have you failed;  what did you learn from it?

– what would your boss, your colleagues, and the people who work for you say about you?

– where do you need to learn, grow, develop?

•  Reach into your organization and talk with people at different levels.

•  Schedule structured time away – no interruptions, just time to step back and reflect.

•  Spending all day checking your email makes for a very reactive day.

There’s much more in the full piece, so don’t settle for just my summary.

Have a great week.  .  .  .  .     jim

EXTRA – Mark Mazzarella, co-author of “Put Your Best Foot Forward” says that there are five magic pills to making a good first impression:

1.  Eye contact

2.  Smiling

3.  The handshake or greeting

4.  Posture

5.  Enthusiasm

And, there are virtually no negative stereotypes or associations that are made with these traits as long as you don’t go off the deep end.