Шоковая терапия

Max Kraynov опубликовал позитивный отзыв на книгу Вячеслава Панкратова "Чёрная книга менеджера":

По сути это сборник монологов от лица владельца IT компании, направленных на менеджера проекта или продукта. Книга написана грубым языком (и порой грубости излишек, или это просто не мой стиль), но такая “шоковая терапия” неплохо прочищает мысли и чакры. Ниже приведены мысли, особенно резонирующие с моими.

1. Работа. Если ты сказал, что что-то невозможно, а потом сделал – кого волнует, что ты скажешь в следующий раз? Дела не делаются у одних и тех же людей, независимо от компании или проекта. Когда понимаешь, что ошибся, нормальному человеку хочется делать ещё и ещё. “Сделал или не сделал” не имеет никакого отношения к “знал или не знал”.
2. Опыт.Ты чего-то стоишь, пока ты в этой конторе, а за ее пределами ты снова идешь искать работу, чтобы продать свои навыки и продолжать верить в иллюзию, что твои навыки ценны сами по себе. Твой навык не самостоятелен, на рынке он будет конвертироваться в бабло, только если кто-то даст тебе проект, заказчика и людей.
3. Деньги.Если тебя от бизнеса нужны только бабки и в голове у тебя только “дай”, то откуда у меня будет по отношению к тебе хоть полграмма уважения? С чего ты тогда удивляешься, что получая прибавку к зарплате, ты автоматически продвигаешься в очереди на увольнение? Если человек самостоятельно делает хотя бы 80% поставленных ему задач, значит мы ему платим среднюю ЗП по рынку. Если около 100% – то платим выше рынка и думаем, как его голову приложить еще. Если человек делает все на автомате, его надо заменить кем-то попроще и включить его голову туда, где не хватает головы.
4. Люди.У твоего сотрудника есть вещи поважнее тебя и твоих планов.
5. Мотивация.Как твои люди будут относиться к делу, к компании, к Заказчику и друг-другу если ты им талдычишь что вокруг все плохо и все полные урюки? Откуда у твоих людей возьмется мотивация что-то делать, если ты сам этого не хочешь? Если человек не делает, его надо учить, если не помогает – тогда лечить, если все равно не помогает – тогда мочить. Увольнять и идти дальше, даже урезанным составом. Пусть работает трое, чем не работает четверо.
6. Время. Приходить вовремя – это такой знак уважения. Уважения, к которому ты не привык, потому что еще сам не стоишь ничего, а демонстрируя неуважение, ты дешевеешь прямо на глазах. Как менеджер, трать время на управление людьми, а не на исследование технологий и т.п., ибо: а) тебе платят не за это; б) ты всё равно не станешь лучше своих подчинённых, которые занимаются работой в режиме нон-стоп.
7. Опоздания. Перезванивай, если опаздываешь. Предупреждай, если сроки проекта сдвигаются. У заказчика тоже могут быть планы, он может терять реальные деньги или с трудом построенную репутацию, которая может стоить дороже, чем весь твой отдел с потрохами.
8. Уважение.Если ты не уважаешь, значит ты еще сам не заработал и не испытал уважения. С такими не договариваются, таким просто говорят что надо делать. Нервный, это тот, кто кричит на своего шефа, а тот кто кричит на подчиненных, тот просто хам. Самые серьезные вещи говорятся тихо и спокойно. Да, иногда не теми словами, но очень спокойно. Уважение к заказчику строится на том простом факте, что нам он платит бабки, которые уже успел заработать сам.
9. Проблемы.Решая вопрос, решай проблему, а не человека. Любая задача решается множеством способов, если только ты не дотянул ее до проблемы и не решаешь свои комплексы, вместо того, чтобы делать дело с помощью тех умных и талантливых людей, которые тебе доверил бизнес, надеясь что ты сможешь или научишся делать дело.

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60 Inconvenient Personal Development Truths

I know you want to be the best you can be.  We all do.  But sometimes we look for success in the wrong places or we try to achieve it in the wrong ways.

Here are 60 inconvenient truths about personal development to help you stay on track.

1. The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing.  Growing happens when what you know changes how you live.
2. You can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones.
3. A good idea without action is nothing at all.
4. It’s not so much about finding opportunities as it is about creating them.
5. 10% of our lives is decided by uncontrollable circumstances.  90% is decided by how we react to those circumstances.
6. What we don’t start today won’t be finished by tomorrow.
7. If you’re waiting for the perfect conditions, ideas or plans to get started, you’ll never achieve anything.
8. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
9. Change is often resisted when it is needed the most.
10. Discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want right now.  Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
11. The harder you work, the luckier you will become.
12. Kindness and hard work together will always carry you farther than intelligence.
13. Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile.
14. Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
15. Lots of successful people have failed as many times as they have succeeded.
16. Nobody succeeds all by themselves.
17. Right now, there’s a lot you don’t know.
18. Having a plan, even a flawed one at first, is better than no plan at all.
19. In the beginning, you need to say “yes” to a lot of things to discover and establish your goals.  Later on, you need to say “no” to a lot of things and concentrate on your goals.
20. No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself.  The big question is:  What are you selling, and to whom?
21. We all have different strengths.  What worked for someone else might not work for you.
22. To be great does not mean you have to dominate others.  It means you have to dominate your own potential.
23. Being successful is a journey, not a destination.
24. Results are more important than the time it takes to achieve them.
25. Being busy and being productive are two different things.
26. Being happy and being successful are two different things.
27. You don’t have to settle.  It’s simply a choice you make every day.
28. Life is full of opportunities to feel exactly the way you want to feel.
29. You have every right to be happy, but it’s up to YOU and only YOU to exercise that right.  Read The Happiness Project.
30. You have the ability to clear negativity from your mind with a single thought.
31. We are all multi-dimensional human beings with simultaneous dimensions of success and failure in our lives.
32. Your success isn’t just about you.  It’s about how you positively impact the lives around you.
33. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.
34. Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else – you are the one who gets burned.
35. Life isn’t always logical.
36. When you spend time worrying, you’re simply using your imagination to create things you don’t want.
37. It’s usually only as good or bad as you think it is.
38. There is a lesson in everything you do, and learning the lesson is how you move forward.
39. No matter how smart you are, you will make mistakes.
40. There’s no such thing as ‘risk free.’  Everything you do or don’t do has an inherent risk.
41. Saying “no” to right people gives you the time and resources required to say “yes” to right opportunities.
42. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
43. When you’re caught up in the moment and your emotions are soaring, you’re bound to make poor decisions.
44. Simplicity is often a major factor of success.  But the process of simplifying things is rarely easy.
45. Cutting your losses is often better than the alternative.
46. It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo, but it’s worth it.
47. You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it.  Either way, it’s getting raised.
48. Oftentimes, the only reason they want you to fit in is that once you do they can ignore you and go about their business.
49. Confusion isn’t a bad thing.  It means you’re growing and thinking.
50. When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
51. When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
52. Trying to be somebody you’re not is not sexy.  Be you.  That’s when you’re beautiful.
53. Good looks attracts the eyes.  Personality attracts the heart.
54. Sometimes you just have to do your own thing your own way, no matter what anyone else thinks or says about you.
55. When you receive negative feedback, remember, it doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it, it matters how many do.  Read The 4-Hour Workweek.
56. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
57. Truly ‘rich’ people need ‘less’ to be happy.
58. A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often and realize how fortunate you are right now.
59. If you want love, give love.  If you want friends, be friendly.  If you want money, provide value.  It really is this simple.
60. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

And remember, the extra mile is the stretch of road that’s never crowded.  As long as you follow your heart and never stop learning, you’ll turn not older, but newer every day.

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100 Blogs that Will Save You Time & Make You More Productive

Today’s busy lifestyles require that everyone put in extra hours when it comes to careers, family, and even free time. Learn how to better manage your time to get more done in less time. The following blogs will help you find ways to become more productive whether it’s at home or work–and no matter what profession you have. Entrepreneurs, professors, students, creatives, technology buffs, and even those just looking for inspiration for productive lives will all find blogs with plenty of information and suggestions to get things done more efficiently.

Productivity for Life

Many of the blogs listed in this section are super popular–and for good reason. The advice found in these blogs includes suggestions for finding time, managing money, creating more time for family, and even finding your happiness.

1. Stepcase Lifehack. The posts here not only include ways to become more productive, but also offer suggestions to help streamline and enhance your money, technology, work, and more.
2. Zen Habits. The inspirational posts here cover many ways to make your life more simple and at the same time, enriched. From family time to work to money, you can find great tips here.
3. SimpleProductivityBlog. Find tips on productivity, simplicity, ways to incorporate technology, and more at this blog.
4. Productivity in Context. The posts here offer suggestions for boosting your productivity and also provides tools for increasing your organization.
5. Scott H Young. Written by a student at university, this popular blog offers tons of information to help balance energy, productivity, and life.
6. Get Everything Done. Mark Forster writes about time management and personal organization on his blog.
7. Productivity501. Increase your personal productivity with the advice available here with focus on time management, money, organization, and technology.
8. The Slacker Method. The tips on this blog are all referred to as "Slacker Method for…" but they are truly just productive ways to manage your day-to-day tasks with tips on everything from getting ready for work in the morning to measuring without a ruler.
9. Productive Flourishing. This blog is for those who are too busy to try out new productivity systems and need suggestions that affect them immediately. Check out the recent Beyond Productivity series to see what many productivity gurus have been discussing.
10. Dumb Little Man. Productivity, saving money, and staying sane are the focus of the posts at this popular blog.
11. Marc and Angel Hack Life. Get tips for personal productivity with this blog.
12. parent hacks. No one needs to find more time in the day than busy parents, and this blog helps with great tips. Check out the mean maraca tip for dealing with road rage–even non-parents could use this one.
13. The Cranking Widgets Blog. Personal productivity is the focus of this popular blog with recent posts including disconnecting from the computer, too much work killing productivity, and being a career renegade.
14. Nick Pagan. With topics such as procrastination, GTD, and cleaning the mind of clutter, this advice at this blog can boost your productivity.
15. Productivity 101. Lifehacking, GTD, and personal productivity are at the heart of the posts at this blog.
16. An Extra Hour Every Day. This blog offers great suggestions for saving time and boosting productivity for work, travel, and home.
17. Tools for Thought. Find ways to change your thinking, behavior, and habits to make positive changes to increase productivity with the tips and information here.
18. Matthew Cornell. This productivity consultant offers advice for personal and work productivity on his blog.
19. Ian’s Messy Desk. Get suggestions ranging from risk-taking to mind-mapping to ways to keep a journal with this blog that offers ideas to boost productivity.

Productivity Specifically for Work

While many productivity blogs focus on both personal productivity and productivity at work, these blogs specialize in the work variety.

20. Productivity Cafe. Learn tips to increase your productivity at work with the advice at this blog.
21. Organize IT. This blog features organization, personal development, and more to help boost productivity at work to make more time for life.
22. Business Hacks. From writing great resumes to effective note-taking, this blog offers great advice to creating a more productive work life.
23. GTD Times. Authorized by David Allen, the founder of Getting Things Done, this blog focuses on GTD in a business environment and also provides a heavy dose of technology and GTD.
24. The Queen of KAOS. For those who work at home, this blog offers tips for time management, productivity, working with kids in the house, goal-setting, and more.

Productivity for Creatives

If you are a creative type, these blogs are for you and offer plenty of suggestions for ways to work and live more productively.

25. 43 Folders. This blog is devoted to helping spark creativity while increasing productivity at work.
26. LifeClever. This blog for designers focuses on creativity and productivity in both life and work.
27. LifeDev. Devoted to empowering creative types, topics include taking care of your body to boost your brain power and ways to boost creativity.
28. Presentation Zen. If your professional life requires you make presentations, then you must read this blog. From technology to creativity, the tips here are invaluable.
29. A List Apart. Web designers can find plenty of advice about creating effective websites with this blog.
30. eirikso.com. Eirik Solheim approaches photography and marketing with a less-is-more approach that he shares with the posts in his blog.
31. Escape from Cubical Nation. For those creatives trying to break out on their own, this blog offers constructive advice and suggestions to help make the switch to a productive and liberating work experience.
32. David Seah. The explorative and insightful posts on this blog offer new ways for creatives to think about goals, productivity, and more.

Productivity with Technology

Technology provides so many ways to help people make the most of their time. These blogs provide great advice for ways to incorporate technology into your life to save time and work more efficiently.

33. Lifehacker. With an emphasis on the high tech, this blog offers tons of suggestions for making work and life more productive.
34. Gizmodo. While some technology works opposite of productivity, most of the fun gadgets and apps found here will help you live and work more productively–or at least more technically connected.
35. Hack the Day. This blog promotes personal productivity, ideas for easier computer usage, and software to make life easier.
36. My Stuff for Getting Things Done. This blog provides tips for getting things done with a special focus on lifehacks and technology.
37. Smart Productivity. Written by a software engineer, this blog on productivity and GTD has a definite technological edge to it.
38. Technotheory. This blog strives to bring technology to it’s readers in hopes of improving productivity and happiness.
39. Did I Get Things Done. This GTD blog offers plenty of tech solutions to aid in your goal of getting it all done.
40. Wild Apricot Blog. Productivity for organizations through technology is the theme of this blog.
41. A simple matter of…. With a unique combination of productivity tips and programming tips, those who work in technology can gain plenty of helpful information.
42. Signal vs. Noise. A blog of 37 Signals, the posts here cover a wide range including technology, design, simplicity, and the surrounding culture.

Entrepreneurship

Many of these blogs teach techniques for entrepreneurs that will help them become better at a specific aspect of the whole business. Some focus on copywriting, others on marketing, and others on communication. Follow this advice and your productivity and time saved will increase by doing things more efficiently and correctly.

43. Dave Cheong. This software engineer is working towards entrepreneurship and offers plenty of tips to help your entrepreneurial endeavors as well.
44. Copyblogger. If online marketing is your gig, then you won’t want to miss the copywriting tips available on this blog.
45. How to Change the World. Guy Kawasaki writes this blog that helps entrepreneurs with topics such as the value of neatness, making the most of collaborative environments, and increasing the value of learning.
46. Brand Autopsy. This marketing guru passes along plenty of advice to help you cut to the chase when it comes to marketing your products.
47. Create Your Communications Experience. Bert Decker shares ways to effectively use communication (both written and spoken) to enhance your leadership and business.
48. Seth’s Blog. Seth Godin offers practical and simple advice to implement effective marketing techniques for your business.
49. Delightful Work. This blog covers ways to free up time, expressing yourself, putting your vision into practice and more as you move from employee to self-employed.
50. Careerjolt. While not specifically for entrepreneurs, this blog does offer plenty of advice that business owners and managers alike can use.
51. Learn This. Leadership, self-education, and successful living are the focus of this blog. Recent topics include humility of leadership, giving direction, and accepting mistakes.
52. Productivity in Context. Stephen shares his knowledge for leadership, GTD, and productivity for those making their way in the business world.

Productivity in Academia

Whether you are a professor or grad student, you will find helpful information in these blogs especially designed to make your academic life more efficient, productive, and easier to live.

53. Academic Productivity. Those in academia, whether instructor or student, will find helpful suggestions on increasing productivity, meeting deadlines, and more.
54. Academhack. From access to inexpensive, yet legal, texts to the debate about wireless in the classroom to free academic email accounts, this blog doesn’t shy away from potentially controversial topics when making suggestions for academic productivity.
55. Academic Commons. With a focus on technology and liberal arts education, this site seeks to connect those in academia with innovative ways to improve education.
56. Academic Lifehacker. This blog provides tips and software to help make scholarship more efficient for both students and professors.
57. Getting Things Done in Academia. Specifically for grad students, this blog offers suggestions for "creativity, scholarship, communication, and time management."
58. High Touch. With an emphasis on technology and social media, this blog offers insight as well as tips for streamlining your processes.
59. Productive Scholar. Backing up files, ways to use commute time efficiently, creating great presentations with LaTeX, and portable apps for students are some of the more recent posts on this blog.
60. Tomorrow’s Professor Blog. MIT and Stanford have created this blog to help facilitate discussion on issues surrounding higher education.
61. academic coach. Specifically geared toward grad students, recent grads seeking faculty positions, and tenure-track faculty, this blog offers news and advice about succeeding in the academic world.
62. Professor Time’s Weblog. From creating a supply box that goes along to class with your laptop to grading strategies, this blog has great suggestions for saving time and being more productive.
63. Proto-Scholar. With tips for productivity to learning to navigate the world of academia, this PhD student shares the journey and lessons learned.

For Students Only

These blogs are specifically for students and offer great suggestions for ways to make the most of your high school or college time and prepare you for a strong future.

64. HackCollege. College students can learn plenty of helpful tips including helpful technology, surviving the first semester of college, and hangover-hacking.
65. Gearfire. Learn how to print your own specialized paper, learn about great time-saving web tools, and even get efficient travel suggestions at this blog devoted to helping students succeed.
66. School is a Game. Providing plenty of tips to help students compete and get ahead, this blog approaches school achievement as a game that you can win.
67. studenthacks.com. Students can find study tips, productivity ideas, and more to help ensure scholastic success.
68. Study Hacks. Get great ideas for ways to boost your productivity when it comes to your school work with ideas such as using free time wisely, learning what to quit, and how to get through difficult courses.
69. Welcome to the Dr. Wizard Group. Dr. Wizard posts advice for college students in this blog.
70. Grad Hacker. Specifically aimed at grad students, but offering great advice for anyone wanting to boost productivity, this blog offers lots of great suggestions.
71. That College Kid. With an eye on technology, this blog features plenty of ways college students can work more efficiently.
72. Surviving College. Ideas at this blog range from setting goals to keeping in touch to decorating with freebies.
73. The Students’ Blog. From finding affordable workspaces to useful student websites to staying productive over the summer, this blog offers plenty of ideas to keep college students on track and working efficiently.
74. University Scholar. Recently undergoing a facelift, this blog will focus on ways to get the most out of your education to prepare for your future.
75. Zen College Life. From keeping healthy to helpful iPhone apps to rewards for reaching goals, this blog is devoted to simplifying college life.
76. The Good Habits Blog. A spin-off of the book by the same name, this blog covers good habits that students can follow to help ensure their success.

Organization

Staying organized at home and at the office is a huge boost to productivity and time-management. Take the suggestions from these blogs to get rid of clutter, both physically and mentally, and keep your life organized.

77. Unclutterer. Learn how to unclutter your space and keep it that way with topics covering issues such as downsizing your house, keeping photos organized, and real-life clutter make-overs.
78. Apartment Therapy. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to live under a bunch of clutter. This blog offers stylish and useful ways to transform your small space.
79. Remodelista. With a focus on simple, uncluttered living space, this blog offers suggestions as well as places to purchase items to keep your living space streamlined and functional.
80. Everlasting Designs. This blog has the bonus of not only showing readers ways to simplify and declutter their surroundings, but their habits and attitudes as well.
81. Virtually Organized. Find out how to get rid of clutter, stop procrastinating, better manage your time, and more at this blog.
82. Get Organized Wizard. Learn how to organize all the different parts of your life with the suggestions from this professional organizer.
83. The Organized Life. Get tips of the week archived at this blog, which is an extension of Emily Wilska’s website and business.
84. Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News. From unwanted gifts to coat stands to organizing the bath tub, you’ll find plenty of ways to organize your living space with this blog.
85. DiscoverOrganization.com. This blog offers simple suggestions for getting your mind in the right frame to sharpen your organizational skills. The posts prompt you to think about color, ways to organize your books, and suggestions for cleaning out your closets.
86. Creative Organizing Blog. Get tips for creative ways to organize your space, suggestions for books to help organize your life, and more.
87. It’s Not About Your Stuff. Understand the psychology behind why you clutter with the information and suggestions from this blog. While the posts here have slowed, the archives are timely and worth reading.
88. The Clutter Diet Blog. Get tons of organizing tips from Lorie Marrero. Recent tips include how to manage "high calorie" clutter, planning ahead, and goal-setting.

Productivity through Inspiration

These blogs provide inspiration for your mind and soul so you can approach the daily tasks of your life in a centered state of mind. Find out how much more productively you work when your mind is at peace by reading these blogs.

89. The Happiness Project. Finding your happiness will improve how you work and live. This blog reports Gretchen Rubin’s experiments to find the best ways of attaining happiness through practical living.
90. My Bad Habits. Learn how to change from bad habits to good habits and stick with that change by reading the helpful advice at this blog.
91. Pick the Brain. Personal productivity, motivation, and self-education are the focus of this blog.
92. AlexShalman.com. The tips at this blog focus on self-improvement with topics that include ways to create your own success and reaching goals.
93. Lyved. Focus on the positive with the articles found on this blog that offer suggestions for personal improvement in life and work.
94. Illuminated Mind. Find your energy and inspiration from the posts at this blog that focus on following dreams, letting go of the unnecessary, and more.
95. On Simplicity. Learn ways to simplify your life, both physically and mentally, and make the most of your time.
96. Awake @ the Wheel. With topics such as the lie of needing a life purpose, choosing between money and living, and the power of less, this blog will help you find inspiration to make the best choices for your life.
97. communicatrix. Living by the idea that people learn best through biography, this blogger shares her life lessons in hopes of educating and inspiring her readers.
98. Share Yoga Blog. Find meditation, inspiration, yoga, and more at this blog.
99. LessoninLife.com. This blog covers such a wide range that you can find tips for students, ways to build an emergency fund, relationship advice, and life lessons.
100. Think Simple Now. Read about ways to simplify your life and achieve happiness with the tips at this blog.

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Should You Hire an Overqualified Candidate?

by Amy Gallo

As politicians and economists puzzle over America's jobless recovery, managers who have started to hire again face another problem: how to handle all the overqualified candidates coming through their doors. The prevailing wisdom is to avoid such applicants. But the unprecedented availability of top talent created by this recession and new research on the success of these candidates may be changing that.

What the Experts Say

Recruiters have traditionally hesitated to place overqualified candidates because of several presumed risks, says Berrin Erdogan, a professor of management at Portland State University and the lead author of a recent study on the subject. "The assumption is that the person will be bored and not motivated, so they will underperform or leave." However, her research shows that these risks may be more perceived than real. In fact, sales associates in her study who were thought to be overqualified actually performed better. And rarely do people move on simply because they feel they're too talented for the job. "People don't stay or leave a company because of their skills. They stay or leave because of working conditions" she says.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder International and the author of Great People Decisions and "The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad," agrees that there are more benefits to hiring an overqualified employee than there are risks."When making hiring decisions, visionary leaders don't just focus on the current needs, but on the future," he says.
Here are several things to consider next time you are looking at a stack of overly impressive resumes.

Overqualified or over-experienced?

Don't assume someone is overqualified based on a quick screen of their credentials. "There is a lot of misunderstanding over what overqualified is," says Ergodan. "We define it as meeting and exceeding the skill requirements of the job. So having a lot of education doesn't over-qualify you." Nor does experience, if the person's prior positions are not directly related to the job in question. Get to know the candidate before you decide to pass. There may be reasons why he is interested in this specific position. He may want to shift industries, move to a new location, or achieve greater work/life balance. And there may be ways that you can make use of his "extra" experience.

Think bigger than the job in question

When considering a candidate who is, in fact, overqualified for the job opening, ask yourself if there is room to expand the role and make use of the skills he brings. "While the old paradigm for hiring was to determine that a job was vacant and look for the right candidate, in today's world one should also consider the talent opportunities at hand, and try to find the jobs that may be created or open in the near future for them, in the larger organization," says Fernández-Aráoz.

"Hiring overqualified candidates can help you achieve much higher productivity, grow, and achieve opportunities that you may not even be thinking about pursuing right now." There are other less obvious benefits too: these employees can mentor others, challenge peers to exceed current expectations, and bring in areas of expertise that are not represented at the company.

Bring them on carefully

"Effective onboarding is essential, especially for the overqualified," says Erdogan. "Unmet expectations are one of the more common reasons for turnover," so you should be clear with yourself, the new hire, and the rest of the organization about what the job entails, as well as what it could become. Adds Fernández-Aráoz: "You need a clear and explicit plan for the future, whether you are thinking of a promotion, a lateral move, or a new project altogether. You need to think and discuss beyond the initial stage where he or she may be temporarily underutilized."

Both he and Erdogan caution that recruiters need to manage an additional risk: a boss who feels threatened. "Managers often worry, 'Can I supervise the person effectively?'" says Erdogan. A superior with less experience than the new hire might be concerned that the person will take her job, make her look bad, or be too challenging to manage. This is not reason enough to say no. Instead, focus on the future for that candidate. In cases where the boss is insecure, "you should not bring that new hire in without a plan to promote him in the near term," says Fernández-Aráoz.

Pay what they are worth

Although it's tempting in a bad job market to buy top talent on the cheap, Fernández-Aráoz disapproves of the strategy. "While my experience shows that you can get candidates for up to 25% less in the middle of a big recession, I would not recommend underpaying an overqualified candidate," he says. "We all have the expectation to be rewarded in a way which is reasonably proportional to our effort and contribution, and fair." And if the candidate is as strong as you think, you are likely competing with other employers for her. If you can't afford her, Fernández-Aráoz says it's better to pass than to underpay. If she wants the job anyway, simply have a frank conversation about her future prospects in terms of promotion and compensation so that she fully understands what she's getting into.

Principles to Remember

Do:

• Think broadly about your organization and its overall talent needs now and in the future
• Consider how you could accommodate a promising candidate's skill set by shaping the job
• Onboard carefully and be clear about your plans for the new employee

Don't:

• Narrowly define the hiring process as finding one person for one role
• Confuse education and experience with skills; a candidate with lots of experience still may not have the capabilities to do the job
• Try to pay an overqualified candidate less than he's worth

Case Study: The hiring risk pays off

In 2009 Lara Galinsky, senior vice president at Echoing Green, needed to hire a finance director for the young, but growing, global non-profit. She thought the ideal applicant would be someone relatively young but with a few years of non-profit finance experience. She was not expecting a candidate like John Walker.

John had most recently worked for a venture capital fund that was forced to lay people off because of the economy. Prior to that, he had spent over ten years in the defense industry in a variety of senior design and management roles. "I didn't have a background in social enterprise or non-profit. I didn't know anything about 501(c)(3)s," he says. But he did have deep experience in running, buying, and selling companies.

This was not an unusual situation for Echoing Green. "We get a lot of resumes from people who want to do a sector switch," Lara explains. They have a lot of work experience but not necessarily a lot of experience in the sector." She had previously ruled out candidates who were overqualified for certain positions or who didn't bring enough relevant experience.

But John had been referred by a friend of the organization, and since Echoing Green straddles the world of for-profit business and non-profit organizations, she thought his experience might be applicable.

Lara and her team talk about the risks and the opportunities of hiring each candidate. They knew that there were risks with John because he had never worked in the sector. But they saw many upsides too. "We didn't have anyone on staff with private equity experience and yet we work in that space. We knew we could use a for-profit lens," explains Lara.

In the end, Lara thought the benefits outweighed the risks. They had been impressed with John's willingness to learn what he didn't know. "Hunger and potential are the most important factors we look for in candidates," she explains. "We hire for talent, not necessarily for acumen. I look for people who can grow, mesh, and evolve."

John came on board in early 2009. Lara encouraged and incented him to network with finance directors from other organizations, so that he could gain insight from experts in the field. The learning curve was steep but he was able to come up to speed quickly and is now thriving in the position. As Echoing Green moves into impact investing they have also been able to tap directly into his previous VC experience. While John wasn't the person Lara initially envisioned hiring, she hadn't imagined what someone like him could do in the position. "We have evolved with him — and used his skills in ways we didn't anticipate."

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One day of traffic in Europe

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