David Mashuri Leadership Development Blog

Mother's Testament by Durnyam Mashurova

2018-12-05T09:19:00.003+06:00

My mother, Durnyam Mashurova, wrote this novel for 3 years, but had been wanting to share this story since she was a little girl, when she maid a promise to her mother and loved ones that she will tell the world about her home village and hardships that her fellow people went through during the Soviet era.

She published it, when she turned 67. And the English version came out when she is 75. Nevertheless, she kept her promise. I highly recommed it to you to read this inspirational story of women, their tragic lives, hopes and love.

While it can be downloaded as an e-book now, soon it will be available in print version as well. If you have friends, who would be interested to learn about the life of the peoples of Kazakhstan, their culture, traditions and values, please recommend them this novel on these upcoming holidays.

Order my ebook

Time to Leave

2013-10-01T13:12:00.002+06:00

Is it Time to Leave?

As an Executive Search professional I’m often asked this question by my candidates, who are considering a career move to another employer. So, when is it time to leave and how can you prepare yourself for a transition will be a topic of my article.

The professional world is moving to more active mobility in terms of job changes. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics report published in 2012, in the US, people held an average of 11.3 jobs from ages 18 to 46 (www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf). In Kazakhstan, every quarter around 250,000 people leave and enter the job market (http://www.stat.kz). As a headhunter, I very seldom see people, who worked for the same company more than 5 years. There are good and bad consequences of frequent job changes. If we start from the bad ones, I can name lack of knowledge depth in particular role/industry, perceived instability, and less polished management skills. This may or may not be true, but will certainly come to recruiter’s or hiring manager’s mind, when they see too frequent job changes in your CV. The good consequences may be in expanding your professional network with each change, wider knowledge of market trends and practices and exposure to different corporate cultures. But I must note that the job changes should be in the same industry or in adjacent such as Retail and FMCG. It will be extremely difficult to convince your future employer that you are worthy of a chance if you switch industries every 3-4 years, especially moving from public to private sector.

Why it may be a best decision?

The reasons for departure from current employer can vary from extrinsic (redundancy, business closure) to intrinsic (dissatisfaction with the role, disagreement with top management’s direction) and sometimes leave no other solutions, but to quit. If your reasons are external and outside of your zone of control, the time to leave has come, and you need to start looking for a new job. If they are intrinsic, consider whether or not you can change the current situation for the better. In this case, coaching can really help to make your decision. If you remember Pyramid of Logical Levels, a coaching tool, which we discussed in previous article, you may analyze your current environment, actions, skills, values and identity to check if they support your personal mission and vision. In any case, changes are inevitable, so you will need to set SMART objectives to see them through.

To determine whether or not it is time to leave, you can do a simple test. First, write down five reasons why you should stay and five reasons why you should leave. If you are already considering an offer, you may also compare with 5 reasons why you should join the new company. The examples of the reasons can be as follows:

I see myself growing personally and professionally within the firm
There is a chance for my career advancement
I like my team and my boss
I work for one of the best players in the market
If I work longer in this role/company, I can increase my value in the market, etc.

In order not to confuse yourself, try to make positive statements even for the reasons to leave. For example,

I will make more money by switching employers instead of waiting for a raise
The new work will make me a stronger professional due to new set of skills/responsibilities
I can make a bigger impact on organization, etc.

Continue the list and add more positive statements and soon you will see that one outweighs the other. If time to leave has come, start looking for a new role utilizing your professional network and preferred recruiters. As a headhunter, my strong recommendation is to stay with the current employer until you get a solid offer from a new one. Simply quitting and staying unemployed sends a wrong message to the potential hiring managers about your emotional instability, possible conflicts or inability to cope with stress. Even if you are 100% right, the preference will be given to candidates, who have no employment gaps.

Prepare for transition

If you made a decision to join a new company, you need to make a smooth transition and mentally accept your new environment, actions, skills, values and even identity. Most of my unsuccessful candidates, who I had to replace, didn't realize that they work for a new organization and need to change their view of working. They mistakenly continued working the same way they used to work for a previous employer, thinking that this is why they were hired in the first place. Every organization is unique and goes through different stages of development. This requires a different set of skills to accomplish different set of tasks, which should be selected as the focus of your activity. For example, Michael Watkins, the author of “The First 90 Days”, suggests that you need to cater your management style to ensure a successful transition depending on what type of organization you are entering in his STARS model: start-up, turnaround, realignment, or sustaining success. This also applies, if you are given a promotion or a new assignment within the same organization.

Whether or not it is time for you to leave, I wish you a successful transition in all of your career moves.

What to Learn from Children

2013-07-03T10:42:00.001+06:00

Watching my three-year old son gives me a lot of joy and material I can use in my coaching practice. You may ask: “Is it really possible to use lessons from our children in the business environment?” Absolutely. Here are some lessons I've learned from my son, and I hope that they are useful for you as well.

Being in the Moment

Kids are great at enjoying what they are doing here and now. This is one of the essential conditions to being happy in our adult life – when you are absorbed in your favorite hobby, an interesting class, or a new project at work. Children easily forget past frustrations and rarely think about future plans, which gives us a good example to follow (not always, of course, but at least when an important task or project requires your undivided attention). Being in the moment is also a characteristic found in gifted people – for example when artists, singers or writers dive into their art and they forget about reality. In business, when we try to multitask, we often lose the joy of doing the job for the sake of it because we have so many distractions. I’m not saying to turn everything off until you finish your project, but I notice a positive trend in how successful professionals are usually seldom distracted from what they really love to do.

Playing with Others

Children are quick in learning the rules of a game and can easily pick up the hierarchy in a new group, which they have just joined to play. This important skill is often overlooked by adults in the business world. A good saying: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is often used when you build an alliance in your organization and climb up the career ladder. On the other hand, it’s very difficult to complete a project or pass your initiative through bureaucratic hurdles if you are not “playing with others.” Essentially this goes back to an issue of trust as children can easily earn it and trust others through the rules of a game. And for children the biggest punishment for breaking the game rules is to exclude someone from the game completely. In business, the more people want to “play” with you, the faster you are in getting ahead in the game. Essentially, it’s your own “playmates” or network within and outside of your organization that helps you achieve your business goals, which brings us to the next lesson.

Meeting New Friends

Networking is one of the biggest assets for any seasoned professional. Younger managers often overlook this skill, forgetting how easily they once made new friends and met people when they were children. Taking time to build your professional network will pay off in the long run, as you never know that one day your business partner may become your employer or your candidate may become your client, which happens often in my work as an executive search consultant. As I travel often with my son, I've noticed how many more people we meet, thanks to having him with me versus when I travel alone. Although we often advise children never talk to strangers, they are so great in finding ice-breakers and starting conversations with total strangers. Like them, you can always find a common interest or a topic to discuss, if you really try. Remember, how easy or difficult it was for you to meet new people at a conference or a corporate event? To improve your networking skills, set tangible goals – for example, get at least five business cards at a conference or connect on www.linkedin.com with ten professionals per week.

Always Learning New Things

Learning new things is an ongoing process in a child’s everyday life. From hundreds of questions like “what is it?” and “why is it so?” children expand their knowledge about the world exponentially. But children are also great at connecting new things and arriving to their conclusions. In our daily routine at work, we tend to forget that learning can be fun and even help us to do our job more effectively or learn new skills. If it’s been awhile since you’ve learned anything new, try to schedule some time for learning new things regularly. Besides corporate training or formal education, some great free alternatives can be watching interesting talks at www.ted.com or signing up for a course at www.coursera.org. I know that some FMCG companies improved their efficiency and interdepartmental communications by rotating employees between departments within the organization or using “Sales Days,” when everyone in the company has to sell their products or services, which helps them learn more and enjoy doing something new.

Having Fun and Smiling

Finally, don’t forget to have fun at what you do. Loving your job is a must-have prerequisite to succeed in it. Children smile on average 400 times a day, while adults do that only 20 times per day. Why do we smile so much less as adults? Is it all because our work is too serious or we just don’t want to socialize with colleagues? It’s not a secret that happy, energetic people are more fun to be around and get ahead in their careers faster than their gloomy colleagues. According to a Penn State University study, people who smile more not only appear more "happy and courteous," but they also seem to be more competent in the eyes of others. Watching my young son has certainly increased the number of uncontrollable smiles, chuckles and laughter for me, which I’m looking forward to at the end of each business day.

I wish you joy in your work the same way you would enjoy a cool game as a child.

5 “W” Questions from Career Coaching

2013-04-23T15:26:00.001+06:00

As an Executive Search Consultant, I see a significant difference between executives, who polish their skills, acquiring knowledge and experience in one field, gaining famous 10,000 hours of practice, which contribute to their professional expertise and those executives, who constantly try different things, often changing jobs and industries. Of course, executives, who commit to one job and hone their skills and experience, benefit by increasing their professional value to employers (making them more “in demand”) while also increasing their salaries.

When considering your career opportunities, here are five career coaching questions to help you. It’s a good idea to ask yourself these questions regularly to make sure you are going in the right direction. In addition, these questions are good to ask when recruiting employees or helping young adults with career choices.

1. Who is your role model in your professional field? Who are the best professionals in your industry and in this market, in particular?

You have a great resource to use if you can name professionals who inspire you to become better in what you do. You are fortunate if this person is your mentor, or at least works in your organization, as you can have direct access to your role model’s knowledge and abilities. But this happens rarely, as we too often aspire to follow examples, who are outside of our network. If you cannot learn directly from your example/mentor, consider learning about them by reading their biographies, following the news, and trying to get closer to those, who can help you improve your professionalism. If you don’t have examples to follow, find some as soon as possible.

2. What do you do to deepen your expertise, in addition to what you do on the job? What did you learn from your current and past positions?

This is not a question about your regular work functions, but rather this question is about the extra lengths you go in order to differentiate yourself from similar professionals in your field. Involvement in projects and working groups outside of you work responsibilities can be a good example. For some, it is continuous training and development or getting a professional certification. For others, it is participation in business associations, conferences, and forums. It can also be sharing your knowledge with others or becoming an expert on a specific issue. In my experience, successful professionals monitor market trends, know their clients’ business inside-out, and follow the political situation, all of which can affect their business.

3. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where can you develop further as a professional?

For many, this typical HR question is a chance to sell yourself at an interview by giving the “right” answer “within your organization.” But if you really think about it, can you see yourself doing what you do right now in 2023? In Kazakhstan, like in most emerging markets, an employee’s loyalty is not very high, so we typically see managers changing jobs every three to five years, if not more often. This means that you may change companies once or twice by 2023. Will you work for your current company’s competition? Is there a new business opportunity for you? Have you thought about doing something else and how can you prepare for a transition? These are only few questions to consider. When I talk to C-level executives, they struggle more with this question as their options are limited: international assignments, regional level or partnership, but in the same line of work. So, you must really love what you do to accept the fact that you will be doing this work until retirement.

4. When do you plan to retire? When will you leave this business?

Many of us don’t think that far about our careers, but the reality is that those who plan ahead are well prepared to enjoy their retirement age. Unfortunately, this is still not the case in Kazakhstan, as most of our retirees usually become dependent on their family members. We work to make money, hopefully big money, so we can live independent and comfortable lives as long as we can, therefore finances play a key role in this equation. Previously, I discussed the topic of your personal finance management, so I won’t go into those details here. But let’s talk about your career plan until your retirement age. How realistically can you increase your income within this period? What needs to be done for this to happen (new skills, education, promotion, etc.)? Is there a plan B in case you don’t maintain employment within your current organization? Will you have other sources of income before and after retirement (consulting, teaching, writing, etc.)? If you are a business owner, how long do you plan to run it? You are fortunate if you have passive income sources such as real estate, for example, or a business that is well-managed by a hired staff. Think of the retirement question now, so you are not surprised with the change in your lifestyle. Although remuneration is important in the business world, the most successful executives reach success because they loved what they did, which takes us to the last important question.

5. Why are you (still) in this profession? Why are you working for this company? Why did you choose to work in this business?

This is my favorite question as it has nothing to do with the income you get for the job you perform, but rather with your values and mission, which drive you to follow your “calling.” It is simply apparent if you love your job and your profession is your lifework. When your personal mission and values are aligned with your organization’s mission and values, everything magically falls into its place: you have the right skills to effectively accomplish your tasks while being surrounded by the right people. Getting your “why” is not an easy task, and I've seen professionals, who found their calling only at the end of their career. Nevertheless, it is an essential question to ask in order to succeed in any profession.

I wish you a successful career in doing what you love!

Finance Management Coaching

2013-03-04T16:44:00.005+06:00

“Too many people tend to spend money they don’t have, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like.” I’m not sure who is the original author of this quote, but I like it as it applies to people around the world and Kazakhstan is not an exception. We tend to spend money on things that other people purchase and we think are must to have. From our childhood it starts with little toys that other kids have and it grows as we grow to “big toys” like villas and yachts that we acquire in order not to fall behind from the others. But does getting more stuff really make us happy?

With the big holidays behind us, many of us find it surprising how much we spent on holiday shopping and entertainment and perhaps want to re-examine our personal finance management. If you are in the same situation, now it’s a good time to assess your finances and lay out a plan on improving them throughout the year. What is your personal net worth? Do you know the exact figure of how much you worth? Net worth is a person's balance sheet, calculated by adding up all assets under that person's control, minus all liabilities of the household, at one point in time. Once you know this figure, you have accomplished the first step of personal finance management, which is assessment of your financial position.

Next step is to decide what your goals are for short and long term periods. Example of short term goals can be saving money to purchase a new computer or finally pay off your student loans, while long-term financial goals can be saving certain amount for the retirement, for child’s college tuition, or for purchasing a home. Think of these goals and write them down following the SMART rule (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed goals). Once you set your financial goals, you should think how you can achieve them.

This can be done in two ways: by hiring a financial advisor or by doing it yourself. The rule of thumb is if you can afford hiring a professional, who can manage your finances, why not use this service to save time and headache? If you prefer to manage your finances yourself, there is wealth of information on the Internet. You may start with online banking and credit cards websites, which now offer your spending reports either by category (travel, communications, entertainment, etc.) or by merchant. Another great alternative is free websites like Mint or Yodlee MoneyCenter, which can collect your expenses in one place and provide you with different reports and tools such as budgeting and savings plans. There are other similar websites, who offer their services for a fee. This will help you assess your spending habits and set up your financial plan for the year or for few years ahead.

It is always good to ask professionals in the finance field. Igor Pakan, CEO of KazInvestBank, answered with the following: "The best personal finance advice I could give you is to live within your means: you have to maintain discipline in your saving and don't overspend. It can be very tempting to buy nicer, newer products when you have saved some money or you get a raise, a promotion or a new job. By focusing on avoiding so called "lifestyle" inflation and putting the "extra" money toward savings objectives, you can put yourself in a much better financial position. I personally set myself SMART objectives and I would recommend to others that they do the same. Defining, documenting and adhering to SMART objectives are key in personal finance management. Last but not least, you can't begin to control your finances until you know exactly where your money is going, therefore stick to budgeting!”

Shukhrat Sadyrov, Deputy CEO SB JSC Sberbank Kazakhstan in Kazakhstan, advises: “Whenever I am asked about managing personal finance, I always recommend first to understand your own financial needs. That is the most difficult part the rest is easy. If you earn more than your needs, then great - invest or save extra money you have. If you are short of money to satisfy your needs then get financing. However, understanding your own financial needs is quite difficult task, especially taking into account business uncertainty which leads to uncertainty in income as well. I have seen a number of cases when people overestimate their income and increase their financial needs with leverage. In the end, it comes to the point when a person cannot serve his/her debt. So the best way to avoid such tricky situation is to realistically assess your income, estimate the sustainable or absolute minimum that you will get. Then it is always good to have some buffer - call it a minimum cash reserve.”

A good way to start with your personal finance management is to examine your last year spending and income. This will give you an example on how to proceed this year, plus many of the fixed costs will probably remain the same, such as rent, mortgage payments, etc. Good idea to consider is to budget also for not apparent costs such as healthcare, travel, events, dry cleaning, repairs and other things that life surprises us with.

Once you specified your financial goals and started realizing them, consider making a habit of regular monitoring of your progress. For example, you’ve decided to save 200 USD a month and lower your spending by 500 USD a month. It will be wise to select a certain day to check your financial situation, for example, at the end of each month. Making note of how well you are doing will help you achieve your ultimate objective. But remember, we are saving money not to have more money, but to improve our life quality.

I wish you a very healthy financial position in the new year and for years to come!

The Identity Question

2012-10-03T18:03:00.004+06:00

"Who are you?" Answering this simple childish question, the first thing that comes to our mind is to say our name, the second - our profession or nationality. But if someone, who already knows us, asks this question, it becomes more difficult to answer. This complex question of identity will be the subject of our next article on coaching.

Why is it important to know the answer to this question? Because by answering it, it will be easier to understand your values and what knowledge, skills and abilities you need to do your life work. It will also help you check your environment, and whether it contributes to the development of your unique identity. Remember the saying, "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are?" Most likely, this is our identity that influences our social circle. Therefore, it is easier for us to communicate with friends, whom we have chosen for the common interests and values than with relatives, with whom we sometimes have nothing to share except a blood type.

But let's start from the beginning. For a more structured approach to the question, we will use "the Pyramid of Neuro-logical levels" model based on the Maslow Pyramid, which was developed by Robert Dilts, the famous American NLP psychologist.

During a coaching session, a person moves from one level to another, in response to coach’s open-ended questions. The first level from the base of the pyramid is the level of environment. This is where, when, and by whom we are surrounded, whether it be work or personal life. Ask yourself this question, "What is my environment?" and define groups of people with whom you most often come in contact (family, colleagues, clients, friends, etc.). Your environment is also your "habitat", including country, region, industry in which you work, your organization and team.

Second level is the level of behaviors. This is what we do as professionals and in our personal life, our hobbies, creativity, and social activities, which are directed at our environment. How do you behave in your environment? What are your specific actions (from the daily phone calls to annual reports)? The behaviors level largely determines your environment. If you are unhappy with your environment, you should reconsider your actions.

The third level is a level of capabilities which we need to act. They can be professional knowledge, skills and abilities, and those that we use in everyday life, such as dealing with people. You may ask yourself, "How am I doing this? What do I need to know and be able to do in my job?" If you decide to change your actions, you should first determine what skills you need for new actions.

Capabilities level is affected by the level of our values, which, in principle, are universal, and already embedded in us. That is, the value is not something that can be achieved through hard work and efforts, such as reputation or social status. Some people may confuse values with beliefs, and that is a big mistake, as building your life based on beliefs is fraught with a great disappointment. Your identity as a person and how you see yourself in your life is manifested in values. Values can be determined by the question: "Why is this important for me?" Ask this question few times to "dig" to your core values and do not be afraid of banal words such as love, harmony, balance, peace, or peace of mind.

By understanding your values, it will not be so hard now for you to answer the question: "Who are you?" by one word that will define your identity. It should be a noun, such as Mother, Caregiver, Messenger, Peacemaker, etc.

There are two levels above the level of identity, which are levels of the mission and vision, through which our mission is manifested in life. Only by understanding the mission, we can really answer the question of what we do in this life, as our identity, values, capabilities, behaviors, and environment must respond to our mission.

For example, if your identity is a Healer and you're a doctor by profession, whose mission is to help people live a healthy life, then your values (for example, caring for thy neighbors), the capabilities (diagnosis and treatment of diseases), actions (seeing the patients) and the environment (doctors, pharmacists, patients, their relatives, etc.) should follow your mission, and of course, will be different from the one, who chose his mission to defend his country, for which, for example, he went to the military and whose identity is a Defender. But if the same soldier’s mission (for example, to create) is at odds with the rest of the logical levels of the pyramid, it's likely he will not be satisfied with a career choice, his abilities, actions and environment.

We should remember that the highest level of the pyramid always affects the lower, not vice versa. Perhaps, therefore, it is difficult to change the worldview and life principles, for example, for new immigrants and expatriates, despite the fact that their environment, actions and abilities have changed dramatically in a new country.

At the same time, by changing the identity, we can easily change our environment, behavior and abilities. For example, when a young couple becomes parents and their identities are changed, it also affects the circle of their friends, and instead of single partygoers, they begin to communicate more with the similar parents.

Try to answer the questions provided for each level of the pyramid, starting from the environment. If you have come to the determination of your identity with a single noun, it will help you understand how to rebuild all the other levels. This technique is useful when you plan to make changes at any level, such as a promotion, a new job, getting married or moving to another country. Knowing your identity, it is easier to build a successful career and a life of harmony, since all what depends on it (values, skills, actions and environment) will be in agreement with whom you see yourself in this life.

I wish you success in finding your unique identity!

Motivation through coaching

2012-08-10T17:18:00.000+06:00

Coaching is one of the most important skills for the development of leaders and managers. Why is coaching so important in the personnel management? Because the modern business environment requires doing more with less resources, and the most valuable resource of any business is a human capital.

Coaching allows you to create a favorable environment in the organisation and helps achieve the following objectives:

Development of staff
Improved productivity
Building a strong team
Retention of talent
Enhancing motivation

Enhancing motivation is a subject of this article on coaching. Often we are confronted with problems whose solutions are difficult for us to see, and we lose motivation to move forward. If your employees or you are in such a situation, it is important to step back from this problem and see the big picture. Usually, it is easier to form your objective attitude towards a situation, when some period of time has passed. There is a saying: "Will this be important in five years?" The technique I suggest for your consideration, called "the 70th-year birthday", although the client (champion) may select another round date of the birthday. The main thing is that this faraway birthday date should seem realistic and easy to imagine for the champion. As always, the proposed technique of coaching is best done with a professional coach, but it is simple enough to do it with someone close to you or even by yourself. Here we propose a simplified version of "the 70th-year birthday".

This is one of the easiest coaching techniques to increase motivation. If the answers are truthful, the session result is always positive, even if a champion is not ready for action. He or she will begin to realize that there are other issues for a much longer term and in relation to them the current problem seems not so significant, and therefore solvable. This technique can be used to address both professional and life issues when current specifics of the situation overshadow the big picture.

Why are motivational tools in addition to monetary incentives so important in an organisation? Because they are the building blocks of a healthy and strong team and allow employees get a sense of belonging to the organization, its mission and values. Coaching is one of the most effective ways of non-monetary motivation and is increasingly used in business. Even if the manager is not a professional coach and his or her sessions are not always successful, the fact of the communication with subordinates, and openness to discuss their problems will be a strong tool in enhancing employee motivation.

To get started, take a blank sheet of paper and answer the following questions in writing. If you help a friend or an employee, write the answers for him or her.

Imagine and describe in detail your future 70th birthday. Where it is held, how you look, who are invited from people close to you, and so on.
Describe the three closest to you guests and what they appreciate the most about you as a person and as a professional.
At your birthday, a well-known journalist is taking an interview from you to write an article about your professional career. Answer his questions: "How it all began? What was the secret of your success?"
Remember the past situation when you lost your motivation. Despite the complexity of the problem, you have found a solution and have been successful. How did you manage it?
If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self from the height of your age and the already established success, what would you advise with your current situation?

If the champion has difficulties to provide complete answers, try to help her (or yourself) with additional questions like: "What else? What else do you see? What can you add to things you have said?" Now, when the answers are written, read them aloud and try to get a sense of the already established successful career and a happy life.

And now, let’s analyse the responses and see how this technique works in more detail.

The first question aids you really immerse yourself far into the future, and the small details will help you transform there mentally. Do not go into too many details though, so you don’t lose the main theme of session.

Three party guests are usually close family members, but even their positive assessment of your career will give you the confidence and the feeling that you can solve any problem.

An interview with a journalist, as an independent third party, will give your answers more structured and credible form. Responses on the already established success will encourage a positive decision and force you to think about the given situation differently.

The advice that you give yourself is the optimum solution for you, because it involves using your own current knowledge and available resources. This advice from the future will inspire you to the specific steps (actions) to address this situation. Write them down and give yourself specific time to implement them.