Post Webinar Q&A with Mike Hyter on Expanding Personal and Organizational Performance

 Mike Hyter recently partnered with us to deliver a free webinar on Unleashing Efficacy: Expanding Personal and Organizational Performance. Hyter is the President and Managing Partner of Global Novations, a global talent management consultancy. Throughout his 15-year career at the firm, he has worked to meet its mission of developing talent and helping organizations increase the full potential of their employees.

We received a few questions from participants following his session:

What do you recommend for someone trying to transition from the “Castes-in-Concrete” Mindset to a “Capacity Building” Mindset?­

The most important thing is to constantly remind yourself that you (and others) are capable of learning new skills and expanding your effectiveness. Tell yourself that any difficulty that you experience is only information about what you need to learn; it is not an indicator of your natural abilities.

In order to expand your skills, identify a goal. Then, break the goal down into incremental steps that allow you to improve over time. Use your practice and the feedback you get to continue to improve the effectiveness of your effort. Seeing yourself learn something new will build your belief that you are indeed capable of getting better. Don’t let setbacks or failure derail you. Learn from them, and try again.

Do you have any advice for getting a career back on track when you have gaps in employment due to layoffs?­

By its very nature, a layoff can derail your confidence.  Over time, that drop in confidence can affect your persistence around networking, honing your interview skills, and keeping up a wide-reaching job search. Lack of confidence can also seep into how you portray yourself to others.

So, the challenge is to engage in activities that help protect your confidence and give you the boost to continue to give effective effort to your job search. Remind yourself of the full range of skills you have.  Stay in touch with people who support you. Reach out to others who believe in your expertise for ideas on how to transfer those skills to opportunities you might not have considered.  Volunteer in activities that allow you to feel good about your contributions, expand your network and perhaps discover new ways your skillset can be applied. If you find yourself pulling back and giving up on your search, ask yourself what you can do to reinforce your confidence that your efforts will be successful if you persist.

What are some ways to get valuable feedback from others, so that I can incorporate it and improve?

It’s important that you ask others for feedback in a way that conveys genuine interest in getting information that will help you improve. If you send signals that you only want to know what you did well and not what you can do better, you’re unlikely to get the full story. The more open you are to feedback, the more you’ll tend to get.

Ask for specific feedback. “You did a great job” doesn’t give you information about the particular behaviors that were effective. Express your appreciation to anyone willing to give you feedback. And most importantly, use the feedback to change your behavior.

Interested in viewing his entire presentation? Download the recording below.