Basil El-Salviti - #GetStaffed

Folks, depending on your religious affiliation, Easter is representative of a multitude of different symbols and celebrations. For the religious celebrating the Easter season, this is a season marked with spiritual renewal. For those individuals who do not affiliate with a religious tradition, or are religious but do not celebrate Easter due to the season not being part of their religious traditions, Easter represents a time of renewal and pause from the chaos of professional life. In both cases, there is a shared unity in celebration: pause, and renewal. Whatever your inclination, Easter is a time of pause. It's a time of reflection in ourselves and in our surroundings. 

Take the time this Easter to relax and spend time with your loved ones. Let us celebrate the brief pause in our daily lives to appreciate what is outside of the normal office life. You'll be surprised how much more productive you will be once you return back to the grind!

You've been through the entire interview with ABC company. The hiring manager, sitting across from you, utters these words: Do you have any additional questions? You've exhausted virtually every conceivable question to ask. You respond, "No, I'm fine at this point." The interview ends. 

Since the end of the interview, you've spent an enormous sum of time waiting for a response. You've regularly followed up with the team at ABC company to let them know you're ready to do everything necessary to expedite the process. Then, in the midst of your agony - the anxiety of waiting for a job offer or rejection - you get the good news you've been waiting for. Company ABC has offered you a full time, permanent role within their organization. It's a sweet deal. You relish this opportunity - and you are instinctively ready to accept this offer. Realistically, you've been prudent in your deliberation to join ABC company and you've deduced that the company culture is rock solid, the people are amazing, the work seems interesting, and your manager is going to help you grow in your career.

Having said all of that, might I suggest you take a quick moment to review the offer before accepting it so quickly? It may sound like a dimwitted maneuver, especially since you've been anxious to receive this offer for quite some time and have already convinced yourself you want to join ABC company. But the truth is, at this point ABC company is ready to onboard you - now it's more about how prepared you are to review the terms of their proposed contract and negotiate better terms in good faith to both yourself and ABC Company. Here are some points you ought to consider prior to accepting this new employment offer:

Is there anything about the offer you do not understand? I'm almost certain that there are terms within the contract that need to be better elucidated before your signature meets the dotted line. Go ahead and ask for clarity on items within the contract - do your due diligence!

How appropriate is the timing of your new job? While it is my hope that you've done your due diligence to decide whether taking this new job is the right career decision for you and your family, not everyone is this prudent. Ask yourself, "Am I prepared to leave behind my past employer and will I be preparing myself for greater success by joining ABC company?" It isn't always going to leave a positive taste in the mouths of those at YOUR particular ABC company, but it's a practice that can prepare you for long term success by ensuring you do not make a mistake in your deliberations.

How prepared are you for the commute to the new job, and does it interrupt the flow of your immediate family's life? Again, your prudence and due diligence should have already nipped this in the bud; however, this may be the first time you've actually considered this facet of joining ABC company. If you choose to accept this job, then you cannot make yourself an exception to the traditions of the company. In other words, you'll need to find a way to come in on time, every day, regardless how far you have to travel. Be sure this is realistic for you.

Is there a real roadmap to your own personal success at ABC company? This is rather self-explanatory, but equally important for you to deduce. Are you looking for a job, or a career? If you've answered 'career', then you must ask whether joining ABC company will benefit your overall career trajectory.

Are you satisfied with the offer? Would you like to add additional details to the offer, or amend details already made in the offer? If you are not entirely satisfied with the offer, then surely now is the time to address these concerns. Be sure to have your voice heard and negotiate in good faith a contract that satisfies both yourself and the interests of ABC Company. You won't necessarily get everything you're asking for - but you will allow yourself the chance to add details to the agreement. For you to not take advantage of the chance to negotiate further terms could lead to missed opportunities for yourself and for ABC company.

If you run a business or are a manager with people reporting to you, or some variation of the two, you know it's fairly difficult to identify new talent to join your team. That process is time-consuming and can often be riddled with opportunity for mistakes - much in the way a war zone can be riddled with land mines. The reality that confronts virtually all hiring managers is that they often make instinctual decisions when making hiring decisions. Sometimes, their instincts can fail them.

In the event that your instincts fail you as a hiring manager and you need to let go of one or more of your staff, there are best practices that you ought to follow in order that you protect the integrity of the company while simultaneously do as much as possible to minimize the sour taste that could be left in the mouths of all those involved in what is often a harder process than actually finding the talent in the first place.

Although this is certainly not an extensive list of do's/don't for firing someone, below are simple best practices you ought to live by:

Be humble and accept responsibility for what's about to transpire. It's important to develop a little bit of humility because some of the onus of this layoff does rest on the employer/manager. Did you do enough to train the employee? Were you attentive to the initial warning signs that demonstrated the candidate's potential inability to fit in with your culture? Did you develop a strong enough rapport with your team member that they can confide in you more personal information that may be contributing to their lack of production? Ultimately, some of this layoff does rest on you as a manager. Much, though, is likely attributed to the ineffectiveness of said candidate to conform with the team and produce at the same pace you expect. In short, however, learn from this and better your management style as a result.

Do not arbitrarily fire someone - this should come as no surprise to the employee in question. Often times, if the point above has been exhausted, it has only been exhausted by virtue of your regular meetings with the candidate and an overall bigger review process being put in place. Give these candidates an indication that their job performance has not been meeting corporate standards - and give them an opportunity to better themselves professionally. Lend them an open ear if need be and do everything possible to give them a chance to improve upon their follies.

Take legal measures to protect yourself regardless how tacky it may appear. Be sure to include clauses in the employment contracts that give ownership of company data, particularly that data which is pertinent to the employee in question. Also, you must always record your "warning conversations" so that you have raw facts to present in the event of a firing taking place.

Be as humane as possible - you're literally about to turn this individual's world upside down by laying them off. You need to demonstrate extraordinary empathy - in fact, to the extent that you can you should help them find new jobs. If it's at all possible and you're still on reasonably good terms with one another, then keep in touch with this candidate. It's possible - however uncommon it may be - that this candidate may not be a solid fit today, but could be an outstanding fit tomorrow. Don't burn your bridges!

Empathy is good - but do NOT sugarcoat or mislead. Compassion, as stated above, is a wonderful thing to incorporate. However, you're doing this candidate a disservice by not identifying key reasons for the layoff. If you've accomplished step two successfully, you've already been collecting key performance metrics that lend to your rationale for their firing. Stick to the raw facts, and don't create a phony "cover-story" that is dismissive of their performance. Of course, as you showcase the facts surrounding the candidate's firing, you must treat this employee with dignity and empathy.

Lay off the candidate in a private setting and don't do it alone. You should be in a neutral environment free from the eyes of this employees soon to be former colleagues. Have a door present. A conference room can work well, or your office. It's important, however, to have an additional set of eyes and ears present since this protects your company. Also, you never know how this individual may react to their layoff; therefore, having that additional body protects you as well.

Lay out all of their options including, but not limited to, details of their insurance benefits, final paycheck, and unemployment options. This is another way for you to demonstrate empathy and treat this individual with dignity and respect.

A good best practice is never to fire someone late in the day. This is moreso a helpful tip to employers. At the end of the day, business must continue regardless whether this individual remains with you or is laid off. If that is the case, get this done as soon as possible so that it doesn't weigh you down throughout the day. Believe me, you'll get nothing done if you delay this.

I'm not particularly fond of gaps in a resume. That's not because they're a bad thing. Life happens, so it's inevitable that gaps can exist in a resume. I'm not fond of gaps because, more often than not, my candidates don't know how to properly explain the gaps. It's a tough conversation to have with people since most of us are self-conscious about professional gaps in their resume.

Most people have a misconception about how others view gaps in a resume. Often times, the general consensus is that it reflects poorly on your application. The reality, however, is that hiring managers - and most competent recruitment consultants - are sympathetic and simply want to understand what happened that lead to your resume gaps. Therefore, as is often the case, honesty seems to be the best policy. With a caveat, of course.

Suppose the last role you had resulted in a firing. Well, this isn't necessarily a detriment to your application. It is imperative, however, that you do not reflect poorly on your prior employer. It's much more important to take note of why you were laid off and, if need be, elaborate on how that incident helped to more deeply 'form' your professional life. Employers are not interested in negativity. Always be positive.

Perhaps it wasn't a layoff; rather, it was your personal decision to leave the employ of XYZ company. Do not insinuate that you hated working for this company. The best way to tell this story, rather than saying how much you hated said the company, is to explain how you learned more about yourself and have consciously decided to seek employment more aligned with your skill set. A practical example is if you're a salesperson who realized they are slightly more introverted than the role requires - thus, you prefer to be more company facing than client facing. Rather than tell the new employer how much you hate sales, explain to the new employer that your objective is to look for employment that allows you to more carefully focus on company-related tasks rather than client facing work.

An important factor, in the midst of explaining your rationale for departing XYZ employer from your past, is to discuss what you have been doing during the gap to better yourself professionally or personally. If you've taken courses or obtained a certificate or consulted (freelance or pro-bono), talk explicitly about it. Emphasize what it has done to help you grow professionally.

The key to discussing gaps in your resume is that you must be honest and positive about your experiences. Gaps exist because either we are particular about the roles we are seeking for ourselves, or because there hasn't been a fit as of yet between your skill set and what the employer is looking for. Always be positive and demonstrate how this new environment is far more conducive to your success as a professional than prior roles.

Look, it's more than important for you to be well prepared before any job interview happens. You'll need to, at the very least, have a cursory glance at the potential employers business and know the very specific details about the job opportunity you're interviewing for. You cannot enter an interview without knowing of this. Oh, and make sure you prepare questions in advance to ask - that way you're positioning yourself to learn more about this particular role.

Everything else, however, is far more difficult to prepare. In fact, I would say it is nearly impossible to prepare.

The fact remains that employers make decisions based on your fit culturally with the team already in place. It's a hard reality for many to swallow, but there is tremendous truth in this statement. The employer is studying your mannerisms, your tone, the way you keep yourself, and other variables before making a hiring decision. They do this not to discriminate; rather, they do this for the sake of stability within their current team.

You, too, owe it to yourself to study this organization - including the little nuances that may make it less than palatable for your career to endure. You need to be highly critical of this next employer, much in the same way they are critical of you and your candidacy. It's a matter of practicality. You have your own unique personality, and the employer must be able to see that personality be a reasonable fit within their organization. You, too, must judge whether or not the employer is a reasonable fit for your career.

Thus, the most important variable (arguably) in a job interview is not whether or not you are technically well suited for the role (although you ought not to submit an application for roles you are not well suited for), but rather it is your ability to 'mesh' with their team. Equal opportunity employers are not exempt from this, either; they want the best suitable candidate, and will never discriminate on the basis of any racial, religious, or other differences in each of us, but will be selective on the basis of your character and overall cultural fit with the environment they are looking to establish.

Thus, in a long winded way, I implore upon you interviewee's to prepare yourselves in a little more unconventional manner: prepare yourselves to be yourselves, albeit someone who is respectful of the workplace. You shouldn't act like someone else in an interview; you need to be yourself.

Welcome to class - please be seated.

Today, we'll be discussing some of the secrets that are often concealed in job offer negotiations - and giving you tips to land your dream job in expeditious fashion!

Many of you know I'm not a real professor....and if you know me, you'll know I am not really teaching a class. But it's just great imagery, isn't it?

Anyways, onto the serious topic. Let's paint a mental picture of how this process typically occurs: you're inches away from landing your dream job with all the perks, yet you now have to handle the negotiations process in such a way as to not manage to lose the opportunity at hand. There are ways one can gently nudge the prospective employer in the right direction without losing the offer at hand.

Prepare Questions - Both Obvious and Particular - to Put Employer on Notice

One of the things preparing questions does, for the employer, is it demonstrates interest on your part to learn more about role and the company you're interviewing for. However, it does one thing in particular for you as an interviewee: you're building up confidence and are able to cling onto particular points stated by the employer in how they answered your questions. You can relay back those particular points and elaborate on why your candidacy is best suited to the company based on those points.

Wow, Most Interviewer's Aren't Always Experts - And Aren't Always Prepared!

I'm not sure if many of you realize how true this is. It's not a slight at the people whom are interviewing you, it's just a simple reality. If you're in this situation where you're looking for new work and are granted an interview, take advantage of the situations where you are the expert in the subject matter and direct the conversation. This gives you tremendous credibility and can be a significant value-add to your candidacy.

Learn How To Negotiate

Regardless what capacity an individual may have within their organization - whether they are salespeople, or software developers, or executive assistants, or any other function you can conceive of - there are certain facets of their work ethic that distinguish those whom are successful from those whom are unsuccessful. Successful people straddle many lines, all the while remaining in full control of their destiny.

Indeed, it becomes hard to point out our own deficiencies that prevent us from reaching the peak of our personal performance. Much of the time, those individuals who find themselves on the losing end of a sales deal or even just a more basic interaction with their colleagues have one or more of these particular deficiencies in their work ethic:

Successful people are open-minded: Ideally, this would be self-explanatory. But let me explain further in order to ensure we are all on the same page. People whom have a propensity to being successful don't discount ideas simply because they do not fall into their preconceived ideas or because those ideas did not originate from them; rather, highly successful people relish the opportunity to work in conjunction with their team and are open-minded with the ideas brought forth by their colleagues. This idea applies in our personal lives, too; if you're successful in your life, you never did it on your own; rather, you loved working with others to not only expedite the completion of the work but also to learn new skills that can be transferred to future tasks.

Successful people take ownership of all ideas - good and bad: Have you ever met someone who took tremendous pride in all the good things that they did, but retreated when the going got tough and opted for someone else to take the fall? Those are highly unsuccessful people in the long run. Failure is a big part of what forms a successful individual both personally and professionally. If you're unwilling to own the bad times with as much fervor as you own the good times, then you're selective in your presentation of yourself. You're not doing yourself any favour by omitting the bad times because you're not giving yourself a chance to reflect on what went wrong and on how to mitigate that for the next time.

Successful people function as leaders whether they're called to it or not: You may not have 'manager' or 'executive' in your job title; however, you still have an affinity for all things that put you reasonably close to the driver's seat if you're driven by success. Whether your team leader is asking for ideas on how to sharpen a sales strategy, or your spouse wants you to confirm dinner plans for the evening, it's important for you to lead the charge in a non-aggressive manner. In other words, don't force the issues at hand; be assertive and give ideas that have substance and weight to them, let those ideas be what compels your boss, or your spouse, to make a decision one way or another. This applies, too, for people in a leadership capacity and lends itself handsomely to the point of being open-minded in all things we do.

Successful people are well-rounded and reasonably educated: Let me clarify this point. I do not mean to suggest that only individuals educated in post-secondary institutions have the means to be successful. Instead, what I am offering is that successful people are more inclined to make educated decisions by way of gather examples of proof, researching, finding references and perhaps even relying on the testimonials of others. This lends itself to the idea of being well-rounded since people whom are well-rounded are willing to look at the bigger picture and make decisions based on the larger scheme of things. It's not that they are experts at what they do, but they are focused on having a reasonably good understanding of what it is that they are speaking about. Being well-rounded also means to make time for things that improve your love of life outside of work - just don't let that consume you and set you off-track of your career ambitions. Let it complement your career ambitions!

Successful people are focused on delivering results, rather than the minutia around them: This is the easiest to explain, and yet the most challenging to implement, of all elements that make up successful people. Often times, those people whom are successful are laser-focused on the task at hand. They dislike distractions in their lives and especially dislike distractions while they are completing a task. Their primary objective is to get from point A to point B without losing focus of the goal-post, so to speak. If you can find the means to be focused to this level, you are guaranteed success. If you're having difficulty completing a delegated task, then ask for support - but always have the final objective be to complete your tasks with the highest level of proficiency.

There are very websites that have the ability to drastically hurt the fortunes of a company in quite the way that Glassdoor does. As prospective candidates for hire do their due diligence on your company, they often make a point to visit Glassdoor and solidify their decision based on the reviews made on Glassdoor. 

For those of you who don't know what Glassdoor is, it's essentially a website that gives the public a good view of what a company culture is like and the general range of salaries for various positions held within the company and how those salaries compete with the industry averages. The most pressing thing that Glassdoor offers which can have a 'damaging' effect for a company is the ability for former and current employees to 'discuss' the company and its frailties online. It is a public forum and this potentially negative review can be challenging for companies to overcome.

Companies tend to be bothered quite a bit by these negative reviews (and their lack of an ability to respond to those negative reviews without being a paid business on Glassdoor.) They often cite that the reviews are complete lies that do not even approach the reality of what the business strives to do.  Sometimes, disgruntled employees - those who were unsuccessful for whatever the reason may be - are the ones posting these reviews as a form of retribution against their former or current employers. Whatever the case, these reviews can negatively impact your company.

Rather than complain, however, about these reviews, companies should utilize it as a teaching moment. They should also create a culture of pride and encourage that people positively react to their employer online.

Here are steps you can take to deal with negative reviews on your glassdoor account:

Politely respond to these reviews - own the situation where it needs to be owned, and show a mature outlook on the future of the business following this review.

Encourage your team, assuming you have a positive environment already instilled internally, to brag about your company online - particularly on glassdoor.

If you have a negative culture, learn from this review and turn your company around! Make it a more pleasant working environment!

Add a non-disparagement clause to your employer agreements. That isn't to say you should allow your organization to remain dangerously poisonous to your employees; rather, it's your legal right to protect yourself to the extent that you can control, to the best of your ability, your online public profiles.

This is not an exhaustive best-practice list for you on how to manage your online public profile; rather, it is a cursory look that verifies your ability to control the image your company has on Glassdoor.

You've made several resume submissions; yet, unfortunately for you, you never hear back from recruiters or employers. Why is that? 

Well, often times the rejection of your resume may happen far before the end-reader actually gets to learning about your professional experiences. In fact, it may happen as early as the cover letter is read. Let me explain.

There are some very common 'phrases' utilized in cover letters that demonstrate a tendency for you as a candidate to be more 'generic' in your job hunt. Let's start with the most innocent, and obvious:

"Below is a copy of my resume."

First of all, thank you for alerting the reader of the obvious. But aside from the sarcasm here, the reader of your resume would much rather have a guided tour of your resume in your cover letter. It's always a great idea to identify what the reader can look forward to further dissecting once they actually get to your resume.

However, it is a bad idea to essentially scribe your cover letter in a harder-to-read format than your resume. Instead, try isolating two, or maximum three, examples of your work that highlight what you can bring to this position you are applying to.

"My name is [Insert Your Name Here]..."

It is well established that, unless you are a popular culture meme or are just very famous, you are not entirely well known to the masses - and that's not a bad thing. What is bad, however, is to start your resume by proclaiming what your name is. It should be abundantly clear what your name is by virtue of the name listed atop the resume.

I would suggest, instead, to begin your cover letter by identifying precisely what you are strong at. For instance, if you are a highly qualified business analyst with many years working in software implementation on the functional side, you may feel free to start off your resume in this fashion.

A good general rule of thumb is to try and closely align your proclamation statement with the specific role you are applying to - in other words, don't begin your proclamation statement telling the reader that you are a gifted mathematician who has many years of experience working within the financial world when the role you happen to be applying to is a fitness sales representative with a leading gym in your area.

The Dreaded Two or More Page Cover Letter

Okay. Wow. I suppose this is a no brainer but it needs to be stated. Having a cover letter exceed one page, or even completely absorb one single page for that matter, is a very bad idea. At best, your cover letter will simply be ignored in favour of reading your resume. At worst, your resume will get canned.

Keep your cover letter concise, and ideally, you should wrap it up by the three quarter mark of the first page.

When I Was Growing up, I Learned How to Sell By Opening Up My Own Lemonade Stand

Boring. Sure, it's a compelling story to tell during an interview - if you keep it concise and to the point. Sure, it's a great way to allow your recruitment consultant to help differentiate you by isolating your passion. But when all is said and done, your cover letter is an opportunity to simplify your resume - not to tell your life story.

Championship sports teams are made both through organic growth and through strategic talent acquisition. Locally, the most prominent example of a championship-calibre sports team is the Toronto Raptors. Let me explain.

Prior to the deal that landed the Raptors both Coach Dwane Casey & GM Masai Ujiri, this team was sad - correction, this team was horrible - to watch. Ever heard of a trainwreck? That was what my Toronto Raptors was. Fans like myself who had been around for a reasonably long while were always left disappointed by the poor performance of our beloved basketball club.

It all began in the summer of 2010, just prior to the start of the 2010-2011 basketball season - the entire landscape of the NBA changed. Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James all merged their individual talents to form a so-called 'super-team', poised to dominate the NBA for many seasons to follow. The sting to the Raptors' organization, losing their star player Chris Bosh, was painful for fans. The organization felt that they were a work in progress, and although they appeared stuck in what appeared to be perpetual mediocrity, the team was looking to make the right on-court talent acquisitions to elevate them from a mediocre basketball club to a championship level basketball club. Never did they think, however, that the loss of Bosh would result in them being a bottom-feeder in the standings.

Flash forward several losing seasons and several key personnel decisions occurred: firstly, the ownership group for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) changed. This ownership group, comprised of many key individuals but also included the newly added Bell and Rogers TV and Internet empires in Canada, strategically mapped out their collective futures. The rationale appeared simple: Yes, Toronto sports fans are loyal to their teams, but there is only so much losing an organization can succumb to before fans begin to lose their patience; therefore, the organizations must win now rather than become perpetual losers. Secondly, a coaching change was in order, along with a key player acquisition - and who better than defensive specialist Dwane Casey, the mastermind behind the Dallas Mavericks' championship winning season, and high-rising point guard formerly of the Houston Rockets, Kyle Lowry?

Furthermore, MLSE orchestrated a shake-up of the executive branches for virtually all of the teams under the banner of MLSE. In particular, the Raptors organization lost the weight of long-time general manager Bryan Colangelo. Although he was single-handedly responsible for developing a bridge of communication that resulted in the successful hiring of Dwane Casey and the trade for Kyle Lowry, Bryan himself represented a losing tradition for a Raptors organization desperate to re-brand themselves as a winning basketball club that talented players would be privileged to play for. Therein lies a key hire by MLSE: Masai Ujiri, a maestro in the boardroom capable of negotiating deals that bore fruit not simply for his home club, but also for those on the other end of the deal.

There, Masai went to work - canvassing for talent across the NBA, studying the roster he inherited from Bryan Colangelo, and ultimately making key trades that bring us to where we are today. Masai not only leveraged his roster depth to add complimentary talent to a young and nimble basketball club, but he also empowered his coach - whom he decided to keep as Dwane Casey - to play a style of basketball that Dwane wanted to play. In fact, the scouting process was - and still is - a mutual exchange of ideas between Dwane and Masai. As GM, Masai listens carefully to his coach and looks to acquire talent that will compliment Dwane's practical coaching style and the roster whom Dwane and Masai mutually agreed should remain with the club.

This aggressive canvassing resulted in what we see in today's Toronto Raptors basketball club: a championship caliber team that can play with the best teams anywhere in the world; a winning mentality and culture that every player is expected to embrace; and a revival of love for a basketball club that was on the verge of collapsing in on itself. Now, the Raptors are poised for future growth because not only are they healthy for the moment with their current roster, but the mentality of always scouting for talent and seeing where the gaps are and where the successes lie will ensure that this team is competitive long after the retirement of key players like Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan.

Interesting story, right?

There are practical lessons here that all organizations should study and emulate in their own growth:

Be aware of changes to your team and the effect that may have: Just like the sudden loss of Chris Bosh dramatically dwindled the fortunes of the Raptors basketball club, so too can the loss of key staff dramatically hurt your bottom line. It's important for you to be aware of the culture with which you build your team under. If the culture is a perpetual bottom feeder or, perhaps, is perpetually mediocre, then you stand to lose your key staff.  Sometimes, these personnel changes are out of our control - after all, people are effectively agents of their own destiny and may leave your organization no matter what you do. That's not an excuse to allow your culture to deteriorate internally; rather, it's a reality check. The simple solution: Always be Scouting.

Study your organization from the top-down, not the bottom-up: MLSE demonstrates the power of this model. Prior to the ownership change, MLSE ownership was content with mediocrity on the basis of their faith that the Toronto sports fan would support their franchises under any and all circumstances. However, with the fate of multiple organizations under jeapordy, MLSE made ownership changes that brought in organizations with a vested interest in seeing success from their franchises. Bell and Rogers want to see winning teams because that's how you encourage people to watch the live broadcast of the games being played. Following this key move, MLSE essentially stripped down the executive branches of all of their popular franchises - the Jays, the Raptors, Toronto FC, and the Leafs - and revised their collective strategic growth initiatives to ensure that they were all aligned with one goal in mind: winning. The Raptors added the highly talented executive, Masai Ujiri, with is a maestro of scouting and deal-making. The result: The Raptors will Always be Scouting.

Hold all members of the organizations - from the top-down - accountable for failures and reward their successes: Masai knows that if he decelerates at any moment and shows cracks in his character, then the MLSE ownership will be on the hunt for new talent. Just look at the Jays' former executive Alex Anthopolous as an example. Winning is the cultural norm now and absolutely nothing less ought to be expected from an MLSE franchise. That is not to say that you hastily execute fires and new hiring, especially since every situation warrants its own unique assessment and evaluation. Rather, this is an opportunity for the executive team and the ownership team to ensure that there exists a mutual interest in seeing success within their respective franchises. Furthermore, reward those who do good work for your organization - just as the Raptors have done with Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Dwane Casey, Jonas Valanciunas, and even Masai himself. But as owners, know you must always be actively seeking the best talent to join your organization. The result - you need to Always be Scouting.

Utilize all resources available to you in your recruitment efforts: It is clear to me and other professionals whom proudly call themselves recruitment consultants that MLSE was in consultation with the most savvy recruitment consultants in the business. Why? The simple answer is that although they may have had access to every single individual player and executive in the business, they MLSE ownership group focused on what they do best: delegating responsibilities to experts in their respective fields. By the way, in case it was lost on you from earlier - that includes utilizing recruitment consulting agencies. If your organization wants to be successful, it must develop trusted relationships with advisors from this vertical - we have a pulse on the market and are able to get our hands dirty to identify, evaluate, and source key talent for your success. In this manner, whether your organization itself is actively hiring or actively reviewing potential candidates for hire, you will always have dedicated eyes and ears on the ground whom will be living the recruitment mantra: Always be Scouting.

It's the tail end of an exciting interview process. You love this new company for a multitude of reasons - maybe the owner is just amazing, or maybe your direct manager will prove to be an important mentor for you in your career development. Whatever it is that excites you about this role, you are certain that the feeling is mutual on their side. An offer letter is right around the corner.

Yet seconds following this rush of excitement, you receive a phone call from said company. Turns out you aren't completely clear for an offer. You forgot to provide references for the company to check. Or maybe, you were hoping the references were not going to be requested.

Interestingly, most of the clients I work with do ask for references. In fact, the final offer they confer to my candidates is contingent on the references being obtained. This has proven challenging time and time again for my candidates as they overlook this central component of their candidate application.

There is a rationale for obtaining a reference: the client wants to ensure that you, the candidate, are able to fully and completely do the role. The references will function as a testimonial of your skill-set and character. Believe it or not, offers of employment can be and often are completely revoked on the basis of an unsuccessful reference check. So, on this basis alone, you as the candidate for hire must ensure that you carefully select your references and also coach those references on what to expect during the reference check being done regarding your profile.

One suggestion I have given to my candidates is to begin thinking about the references they will approach quite early in their job-search process. In fact, it isn't such a bad idea to have the references on hand even prior to your interviews. In this way, you effectively provide a 'catalyst' in the hiring process since the people doing their due-diligence evaluating your profile will be able to handle the references much earlier and quicker in the process.

If you've never failed at anything, then I guess you're an anomaly. I would wager that the majority of us, if not all of us, have failed or even made a slight mistake in our lifetime. It's almost inevitable - it's how we learn. However, what defines winners from the 'others' isn't our ability to 'not' fail, but it's our ability to not allow our progress to be halted by a failure or a mistake in our professional careers.

Let us paint a mental picture of what this may look like in the practical sense: One of your clients notices an error you've committed and has decided to contact your superior to disclose the error. In fact, this client was so incensed by what you did, they suggest that your employment should be terminated effective immediately. How would you respond to this situation?

Naturally, when I have asked my colleagues and clients to picture this hypothetical situation the first response from many of them was that they would be anxious and likely embarrassed by this situation. Some of the responses were more defensive than others, to the point that they would even deny the mistake/failure they committed against their client in front of their boss to save face.

The truth is that the vast majority of us, nearly 4/5 of us, will respond similarly to the above sentiment - and that is troubling. Perhaps if you've ever been in a compromising position professionally either by way of a mistake or failure at your task, it would have been helpful to know that there are simple ways to mitigate this situation that do not include saying something like 'yes I made a mistake but it's not the end of the world.'

A significantly stronger response to managing your failures/mistakes is to address them head-on. In the case of the incensed client, it may be wise for you as the individual who made the error to personally visit the client and apologize to them face-to-face so they can see how sincere you actually feel. Sounds a little tough? Let me explain why this approach is the most successful for your career growth.

If you decide to employ this active approach of mitigating your problems, you are essentially framing yourself as a problem solver rather than a problem denier. Denial is a very natural, innate human instinct; to act above our human nature shows that we are in control of ourselves and of our own destinies. Yes, we will invariably fall victim to the human condition, but overall we need to be cognizant - to the best of our ability - on when our innate instincts come to play and learn to disassociate ourselves from tendencies to display weakness in ourselves.

Not a day passes by where my eyes aren't reviewing resumes high and low. It's a critical part of what I do every day and what allows me to meet new and interesting candidates regularly. 

Although it goes without saying that some resumes are stronger than others, most of the better resumes I've encountered typically have some or all of these skills accounted for in some fashion:

Fluency in Multiple Languages: Did you know that people whom are bilingual or more tend to have a stronger memory and are better at multitasking? Obviously being fluent in a new language is not an easy undertaking and it forces you to exercise different faculties of your brain. Clearly, the benefits outweigh the struggle - and employers have a fondness for hiring this talent only because they know the work that goes into being able to function in multiple languages at a time.

Public Speaking: It's an inevitability that you will have to, at some point in your career, address a group of people. That group may be large or small, but it's still an inevitability for your career. This is critical to businesses and employers because your voice really does matter - and if you're able to articulate your grievances or, better yet, offer strong solutions to the challenges your employer faces, your ability to speak in unashamedly speak in public will prove fruitful to your employer.

Microsoft Excel: If you're in finance, sales, marketing - well, most professions, really - you'll find yourself spending the bulk of your time entering and analysing information in an Excel spreadsheet. Needless to say, you will be wise to include your experience - however minuscule - in utilising this application for business.

SEO: You would do yourself well to learn Search-Engine Optimisation (SEO) skills. Why? Well, let's paint a picture of an average salesman looking to brand themselves or their service offerings online: Suppose you are posting your promotional sales initiative on Facebook and want to measure how far reaching the marketing campaign was. How will you know the value of a click, a like, or a share, if you aren't well versed or even vaguely familiar with best practices in SEO. This skillset is invaluable to your next employer in nearly every function in the office.