All posts by Katie Hamilton

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Unlocking Your Strengths

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I recently had the opportunity to attend a half day training seminar and I found the topic extremely relevant to each of us as we transition from execution to management within our companies. I think everyone knows how passionate I am about personal growth and development, and I stand firmly behind the idea of strength-based feedback. This post is going to focus more on how to give feedback rather than receiving it yourself, but the framework can be applied in either direction.

Strength-based development is the practice of deeply knowing and documenting an individuals’ distinguishing capabilities and linking their strengths to priority development areas in order to accelerate learning and growth.

Strength-based feedback is comprised of three steps. Step 1 calls for an inventory of strengths. Step two pushes you to link the strengths to development goals, and then in the third step you apply the strengths and development goals to an action plan.

A strength inventory is a comprehensive list of the skills, characteristics and value an individual brings to your organization. They are individual and specific and supplemented with examples on how the strength manifests in behavior and actions. By creating this inventory, you provide explicit recognition of the strengths, which fosters self-confidence.

The next step is to link the strengths to development goals. It’s important to remember that we can only focus on a small number of development goals at a time, so as you’re providing feedback, focus on what’s most important. For example, if someone on your team really struggles to speak up in meetings, but they can create very polished presentation slides, your feedback should focus on helping them pivot their strength in slide creation to polishing their presentation skills in the same manor.

The final step is to create an action plan together with your employee. Agree to tactical goals that the individual can refer back to, and do so regularly. An example might include “…improve first impressions and body language and avoid coming off as more junior. Leverage your natural confidence and credibility and extend it from beginning to end of an interaction.” Each subsequent meeting you have should include an update on the action plan and a focus on what the individual has done to address each of the goals you agreed to. The action plan encourages collaboration and fosters a shared responsibility between you and your employee to monitor their personal growth and development together.

How have you helped foster development on your own teams at work, either as a colleague or manager?

04-Managing a project team, team dynamics

Did Netflix reinvent HR?

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“Candor is not just a leader’s responsibility, and you should periodically ask your manager: “If I told you I were leaving, how hard would you work to change my mind?”

This is just one of several unusual or surprising policies or questions posed in a Powerpoint presentation shared by Netflix CEO and Chief Talent Officer. I find it interesting and relevant to share with all of you because I think these notions of being consistently honest with ourselves and our colleagues goes against what we inherently believe, which is that good things will come to good people.

Netflix encourages speaking up both as an employee and a manager. If you don’t feel you are getting the most out of your team, it is encouraged that you find new team members who will outperform the ones you have, even if they are doing just fine. As an employee, you are rewarded for “sustained A-level performance, despite minimal effort,” which I find a little infuriating. Imagine a scenario where a coworker rarely came into the office and rarely contributed in meetings, while you worked long hours and coordinated large meetings, but due to some arbitrary scale of success you were terminated and your colleague was not. Or, even worse, imagine watching that happen from afar. I would feel paralyzed, unclear how I should behave or react.

Netflix also promotes a process-free (or limited) environment where employees are authorized to spend within their budget, make decisions on assignments for which they are ultimately responsible, and cut much of the red tape that paralyzes other businesses. How does this continue to work for Netflix? Are there employees just that much better at communication, following the prescribed guidelines or role descriptions, or is it something else? I think empowering employees is huge and can have massive implications for eliminating much of the red tape  we have all experienced.

The rest of the presentation, along with a Harvard Business article, can be found here. I could spend all day detailing the rest of the Netflix value system, but instead look to you for your thoughts on what Netflix is doing, how sustainable it is for the long-term, and if any of these policies or lack-of-policies are things you would adopt or wish your organization would adhere to?