Personal Style Equals Leadership Style
Corrections or additions?
These articles were prepared for the December 5, 2001
edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. A change in name spelling was made
December 13, 2006. All rights reserved.
How to Ace a Job Interview
The times they are changing, especially for job seekers.
With the country now saddled with its highest unemployment rate in
years, and at a time when the phrase “corporate downsizing”
has become as much a part of every day speech as “groovy”
was in the 1970s, job seekers are being forced to redefine themselves
and refine their skills to a razor’s edge.
Gone are the days of simply typing up a resume and letter, sending
it to the human resource manager, and sitting back to wait for the
phone to ring. While it is just as essential as ever to have a strong
resume, the tight job market has made it necessary for job seekers
to think and act in new creative ways in order to get a step up on
the competition.
“As a result of more mergers and more competition in today’s
business
world, everyone needs to be sharper than ever when it comes
to their communication skills,” says Victoria Chorbajian,
an authority on public speaking, presentation skills, and media
training,
Chorbajian will speak on “Effective Job Search/Interviewing Skills
in a Down Economy” on Thursday, December 6, at 1 p.m. at Saddle
Brook. Cost: $149. Call 201-263-0202. (VictoriaTheCoach@aol.com)
Based in Paramus, Chorbajian often works with corporate executives
to help them become more comfortable, dynamic, and effective as
presenters
in everything from informal talks to media interviews. She also gives
workshops customized to specific audiences, teaching presentation
skills, sales techniques, as well as particular skills such as how
to run an effective meeting.
The goal of the seminar is essentially to help people become as
effective
as possible in a job interview. While most people are intimidated,
at least a little bit, in an interview situation, there are specific
techniques that job seekers can learn in order to increase their
chances
of landing the job they want. “We work with everything,” says
Chorbajian. “What do you say, when do you say it, why do you say
it, and how do you say it.”
This extends not just to the need for an interviewee to choose the
right words, but also to such public speaking tools as effective
pausing,
maintaining proper eye contact, the need to vary the pace of words
in order to build up momentum about an exciting project, and then
slowing your pace down to keep a sense of control and to convey
confidence.
After graduating as a political science major from Drew University,
Chorbajian worked for 12 years in the financial industry. But she
always kept her sights on someday running her own business, and she
knew that it would somehow focus on public speaking. “I always
knew that I had a natural talent for speaking in front of any size
group, in fact, the larger size group the better,” she says.
“I
also knew that I was adept at putting together effective training
workshops.”
She has been operating her company full time for the past two years.
She is also the author of “Public Speaking & You: The #1
Fear,”
an audio tape that helps allay anxieties over the often-dreaded
speaking
assignments that come up in life.
“I tell my clients that it is important to look at every job
interview
as an opportunity,” she says. “Even if you know going into
an interview that it might not be for the job that you ultimately
want, it’s always an opportunity to meet people, network, and perhaps
be pointed in the right direction. You never know, sometimes an
interviewer
may know of a position opening up in another department or even in
another company in the industry.”
Although interviewing for a job is certainly one of life’s more
stressful
events, proper preparation can help empower job seekers, allowing
them to relax a bit, and enhance their chances of landing the job.
Chorbajian offers some tips.
Research, research, research. A good way to impress apotential employer is to learn as much as possible about the companybefore going into the interview. Are there recent mergers orexpansionsinto other countries? LexisNexis, software that is available throughmany public libraries, is one of the best sources of company news.Also, the reference librarian at any local library can point the wayto a variety of directories that are packed with informationconcerningevery industry.Differentiate yourself. Ask yourself, what can you dodifferently from everyone else? Job search techniques aren’t writtenin stone. “Despite what they may say in books, there aren’t just10 ways to look for a job,” says Chorbajian. “If you havean idea, try it out. If doesn’t work, or if you think it can workmore effectively some other way, do it differently next time. By beingcreative you increase the chances that you’re going to catch someone’seye.”Be persistent, but non-threatening. “Most people don’tdo this, and it actually worked for me,” says Chorbajian.”Aboutseven years ago I obtained an interview in an industry that I hadno experience with. I made up a marketing flier for myself and sentit to the chairman of the company. I then followed it up with aboutfive phone calls over a two-month period, and they finally said `okay,you can come in for an interview.’”First impressions do count. In an interview situation,job seekers need to be aware that they are being judged from themomentthey walk through the door. It is important to exude an aura ofprofessionalismfrom the initial handshakes straight through to the drive out of theparking lot. Remember that perception is everything.Don’t get rattled. Sometimes job candidates are askeddifficult questions that may raise their defense shields, such asthe reasons why they left a particular job. “It is important tomaintain a poker face,” says Chorbajian. “Keep your emotionsoff of your face, pause before you speak, and then speak in a calmlymodulated tone.”While there is no magic path that leads directly to the dreamjob, even in this tight economy it is possible to increase the oddsa bit in one’s favor. A solid resume, strong preparation, professionalpresentation, the ability to convey a sense of competence, as wellas maintaining a willingness to learn from one’s mistakes, all cancertainly help make the eventual success more likely.— Jack FlorekTop Of PagePersonal Style Equals Leadership StyleGreen or gold? Red or blue? It can make all thedifferencein leadership style. Shoya Zichy sorts leaders into personalitytype, and assigns each group a color. Zichy herself, head ofManhattan-basedZichy Associates, an executive coaching and consulting firm, is agreen. Greens comprise 17 percent of the population and tend to becharismatic, enthusiastic spokespersons for their organizations, withan ability to sweep others into their causes. Famous greens includeOprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ghandi.Zichy has devised a personality toolkit based on the work of CarlJung, the Myers-Briggs family, and David Keirsey, author of theCharacterSorter and the Personality Sorter (available online atwww.advisorteam.com).Knowing and understanding personality type, she says, providesbenefitsin work relationships, career choices, money management, andleadership.Zichy speaks on a panel addressing “Business Leadership inUncertainTimes” at a joint meeting of the Human Resources ManagementAssociationand the Institute of Management Consultants-Princeton on Monday,December10, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency. Other speakers are SarajaneMackenzie, vice president of human resources, Orchid BioSciences;and William J.H. Foster, Foster Coaching/Consulting Group.Zichy, author of Women and the Leadership Q, finds golds are thebedrockof business life. Making up 46 percent of the population, they valueprocedures, respect the chain of command, and “have finely tunedsystems for everything from raising children to running largedivisions.”Famous golds include George and Barbara Bush, Dan Rather, and QueenElizabeth.Providing the spark in corporate corridors are the reds, who areaction-oriented,spontaneous, and impulsive. Work must be fun for these free spirits.They resist schedules and hierarchies and aren’t too big on planning,but they excel at handling crises. Famous reds include former GovernorChristie Whitman, Bill Clinton, and Madonna.It is the blues who see the big picture. Theoretical, competitive,and always driven to acquire more knowledge, they seek learning forits own sake, and are driven to challenge and test ideas andauthority.Blues are visionary and do best in positions requiring strategicthinking.In her book, Zichy provides self-assessment tools along withinterviewsof a number of individuals in each personality group. In this excerpt,she writes about personality features, cutting across type, that limitthe maximization of leadership potential:PEOPLE ARE OFTEN UNAWARE of what can be termed “sagfactors,” which cause motivation to droop and languish. We maythink of the leadership profiles as having a stainless-steel quality,with leaders who are undaunted, consistent, self-disciplined, andhighly motivated. What you need to remember is that these aredescriptionsof highly developed examples of particular leadership types. In yourquest to develop your own leadership style, you may need to workthroughsome sag factors while maintaining a vision of your peak performance.There are different degrees of sag factors. Often people are unawarethat they are projecting their inner landscapes onto the outer world.Many people can be highly functional and still be limited by thesetraits. Insight is the first step toward positive change. Keepingan open mind about the relevance of some of these sag factors in yourlife will give you an opportunity for growth. To help you further,this discussion culminates in a spot-check survey that will allowyou to determine the extent to which your sag factors need to beaddressed.Self-Management. Are you affected by fluctuations in yourmood? Many highly functional people do not realize their thinkingis tainted by depression or by anxiety and its close relative, fear.This does not fit the self-image of a confident and self-reliantleader,yet to a certain degree and in some circumstances many people areafflicted by doubt, negativity, and fear.For our ancestors, fear was associated with survival. The moderndescendantof fear is worry. Perhaps that is why it is often a very strongreaction.For many people, however, the worry and anxiety to which they aresubject far outweigh their usefulness. In fact, they hinder decisionmaking and engender ambivalence and stress after decisions are made.Anxiety is experienced as “the dread that something bad willhappen,”whether to one’s plans, one’s children, one’s money, or the worldat large. Some people even believe that worrying prevents badoutcomes.At its worst a person beset by anxiety may be unable to act in themidst of uncertainty or ambiguity. A worried leader can create acultureof worry that inhibits optimism and the belief in the creativepotentialof others that is necessary for effective leadership. This rules outthe possibility of the leader giving people the benefit of the doubt,trusting and empowering them to show initiative.Self-Esteem. Put simply, your self-esteem is related tothe view you harbor of yourself: bright, dull, pretty, fat, competent,don’t have what it takes. It’s not that these terms are at the surfaceof your mind but that they subconsciously form a collectiverepresentationof your assets and liabilities. Self-esteem is inextricably linkedto how you perceive yourself in comparison to others. It’s importantto remember that a sense of self-esteem has different degrees ofobjectivity.Some people always come out higher when they compare themselves toothers; there is no one they would rather be than themselves. Thisis a measure of high self-esteem and becomes an automatic triggerfor self-confidence and initiative.Decisiveness quotient. A leader must be able to make adecision, determine a strategy, and request and obtain the resourcesnecessary to get results. A leader is a doer as well as a planner.Part of the drag on some leadership decisions occurs when the leaderhas not resolved her predecision stresses. This is related to theability to set specific goals as opposed to remaining ambivalent.If ambivalence continues after a decision is made or a goal is set,it interferes with the leader’s strength of purpose. Decision makingis a way to resolve ambiguity. An effective leader is able to contain,for herself and others, the anxiety and confusion engendered by thedecision-making process. She is not threatened by the finality ofa decision.Approach, avoid, attack. In understanding what motivatesyou, how you characteristically respond to emotional challenges, the”approach, avoid, attack” framework can be instructive. Thereis a level of automatic response that people often bring tosituations.However, this is not as simple as it appears. You can be physicallythere and feel and look like you are in the approach mode but stillretain huge elements of avoid and attack motivation.For effective leadership, the approach mode is essential. Behaviorsassociated with this mode are those of encouraging, cooperating, andguiding as well as setting protective limits. A person who canapproachis confident that problems can be solved. She crosses bridges whenshe comes to them. She is not disposed to be guarded or suspicious.She is calm and open.The avoid reaction, which can be hidden, is compounded of anger andfear. Rejection, withdrawal, and manipulation are all avoidancebehaviors.The anger involved in avoidance can shade into attack. Retaliation,threats, and coercion appear in the attack mode.Be aware of how complex your characteristic responses may be. Thisframework of approach, avoid, attack is used by Dr. Steven Stosnyto train compassionate parents. It is no accident that many of theproblems you have to deal with in the workplace have deep elementsof the reenactment of family dynamics.Dealing with Setbacks. The ability to deal with setbacksin a positive way is a critical leadership quality. No matter whatcards are dealt, the leader holds her own and plays the hand as wellas she can. Her optimism and self-esteem buoy her ability to createnew opportunities and move on. This scrappy, “can’t bestopped”quality allows the leader to find steppingstones and new directionswhere others would give up.Many of the leaders described situations in their lives where theyassessed that they could not win. They were able to make plans tomove on. Change is not easy, and the sag factor here is that manypeople stay in ruts, deny the reality of the situation, and are moreafraid of the risk of change than of stagnation. Leaders can move.What is important here is that both of these factors have to do withconquering fear and anxiety while maintaining a positiveperspective.Thesag factor is not being able to meet setbacks in an effective manner.At the end of the day. No one is perfect. Give yourselfa pat on the back for taking the time to learn about leadership andperhaps commit yourself to lifelong growth as a value. Many smallsteps consistently taken over time are the way to significant change.It’s your life. Take ownership of it.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
