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Executive Network Group of Greater Chicago, Inc. (ENG) General Meeting Minutes July 14, 2005. Oakton Community College, Des Plaines Campus, Business Conference Center July 14, 2005 1:30 PM. Karl Randall, the Executive Director of Executive Network Group of Greater Chicago, Inc. (ENG) made an introductory speach, welcoming the membership and other attendees to the new meeting location for ENG. The ENG Board of Directors felt that it was necessary to provide a more central location for meetings than the former downtown Evanston location. Last year a survey was presented to the membership and a new, improved location was sought by the membership. Sue Cibelli, a member, made a presentation about the new location, which is better for most of the attendees, and easier to reach because Oakton Community College is located next to I-294 (at Golf Road, next to the Illinois Toll way) in Des Plaines. Mr. Randall noted food was available to all in the cafeteria in the First Floor, up by elevator or the flight of stairs, and with free parking. All Oakton Community College sidewalks will be free of snow and ice in the winter. 1. Premeetings At this point those presenters at the gatherings prior to the start of the meeting spoke to the group. Mike Lapinski, the facilitator of the Entrepreneurial Group, spoke about that meeting. The Entrepreneurial Group provides insight about suitability of attendees for owing and operating one’s own business instead of returning to the traditional corporate world. Mr. Lapinski mentioned the name of Bill Price, a lawyer and Professor at Wheaton College, who will speak to the Entrepreneurial Group on August 4, 2005, the next ENG meeting date, on the topic, “Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?” Doug Newkirk, another lawyer, will speak to the Entrepreneurial Group on August 25, 2005; he is comfortable with addressing issues related to the middle market, M & A, and startups. Peter Sturdivant, facilitator of the Best Practices Group, made a brief presentation. His group deals with the transitional period ENG members are in, dealing with networking, self-analysis, effective resume creation, financial matters and emotional issues. This group meets at 12:30 PM. Tom Francis, facilitator of the Technology Forum briefly stressed at his meeting the importance to the attendees of effective use of computers in searching. He largely deals with small (fewer than 10 employees) businesses in his own business. Mark Wineberg, facilitator of the International Group, stated that 83 members had joined his group, and that there were eight new members in the gathering on July 14, 2005. Allan Wolan, facilitator of the Networking group, who is with Cove Financial Group, deals with networking, and how to be a better networker, in his meeting. The Networking group meets at 12:30 PM. 2. Recruiters Mr. Randall then introduced two recruiters. Erik Brandstetter, Spherion, is a Technical Recruiter, based in Spherion’s Itasca, Illinois office. He largely deals with IT professionals, but will take calls from others, and direct them to the appropriate Spherion manager. Christian Becker is a recent ENG member who found a new position at SAI, an ADT competitor in alarm monitoring. He said his privately held company, with approximately $12mm sales, was looking for a person to manage the firm’s call center-for alarm monitoring, and signal dissemination. AT&T is the biggest vendor. The person should be familiar with VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), use of Internet routers, and probably will have an engineering background. 3. Landings Peter Sturdivant then noted that a number of ENG members had landed new positions, including Gary Masterson and David Rosenthal, as well as Mr. Becker. 4. Annual ENG Meeting and Selection of New Board Members Sam Samatis then conducted the annual ENG meeting. He noted ENG started in 1991 with 15 members at the old location in Evanston, and grew to up to 500 members with 120 members in the room at a time. ENG is incorporated as a Not for Profit organization, has by-laws, files certain reports with the State of Illinois, and must hold annual meetings. ENG has a Board of Directors, which due to turnover (as Board members find new positions), looks for new people to take on this responsibility. He asked the attendees to let him know if they were interested in Board positions. He listed proposed new Board members, who were also, in some cases, incumbent Board members:
5. Featured Speaker Robert Moliski “Getting Your Story Straight” Robert Moliski, featured speaker, was then introduced. He is the founder of Moliski Partners, a retained executive search firm and executive development firm. He specializes in general management recruiting and highly technical executive recruiting for manufacturing and professional services organizations. Moliski Partners also provides executive development and corporate consulting services. Mr. Moliski noted that his firm served Ford, Accenture and John Deere among others. His background includes 10 years of service in the U. S. Navy, as a gunnery officer, and Korn Ferry International. Mr. Moliski said telling stories in interviews helps to bond with others, and helps to present to interview the candidate in a more memorable way, offering the interview an opportunity to determine the candidate was a good fit for an employer. In 1992 Mr. Moliski was applying to graduate business schools. He worked on the Harvard Business School application for eight months. He shared his views with others, and a friend told him in responding to the application question about Not for Profit service, that it was useful to remember that, if most persons were asked, they could not name the 10 Commandments, but all would remember the “Prodigal Son” story. Stories are memorable; lists are not. The lesson: Make your presentation memorable with stories, which illustrate your resume. Telling stories in an interview requires introspection. Looking back on your accomplishments: what do you feel most passionate about? What did supervisors like about your service best? What crises did you handle? The resume may not offer any of these points. A story may not be good in a resume, but will be entirely appropriate for an interview. An interviewer wants to know how successful you’ve been, and what you have accomplished. An outstanding performer may not be qualified, “on paper,” but may be a good fit for an employer. The interviewer wants a candidate who has already done what the client now wants to be done. If you paint yourself as capable of handling the important position challenges, that makes you a better candidate. 28% of success lies in knowing how to do a job; the rest is cultural fit, finding a team player, someone who is good to work with, who will do the job. You must be passionate about doing the work! Consider hiring an accountant, for example. The best person for an accounting position will be someone who loves accounting, and who will learn whatever has to be learned to do the job right. If you show passion, and are good at it, that will create an excellent impression. Good Stories:
Choose seven or eight stories, script them so that each sentence counts, as you have a limited time to tell the stories. Tell the stories to the interviewer so that they reinforce a skill you have. Mr. Moliski noted he had two tours of duty in the U. S. Navy. When a gunnery officer, he had to unload all the ammunition on the ship at Yorktown prior to the ship going into dry-dock, at the end of a long cruise. It would take three days to unload with his assigned gunnery crew, making the crew unhappy. He analyzed the situation, and realized that if a substantial part of the ship’s crew were used for the unloading operation it could be accomplished in one day. He asked the ship’s captain and the plan was approved, permitting the crew to start leave earlier than otherwise possible, which the crew appreciated. This story is impactful, short to the point. To make a story more important, ask the interviewer for permission to tell the story, which will position the interviewer to listen, make your story’s point, and ask, “Does that answer your question?” In recounting the story consider these structures your guide in composition and telling: "SAR" for “Situation, Action, Result”, and “Situation, Complication, Question and Answer”. Consider your background. Why were you hired for a particular job? Case in point. There were declining pharmaceutical sales and the reason for the decline was not apparent. The cause, the candidate found, effectively lay in the lack of training of the sales representatives, leading to poor performance, low bonuses, and people quitting. As a result of correct cause analysis, the candidate turned the situation around in six months. How do you research a company? People who are good at the process figure there are unmet organizational needs. If inventory is excessive, for example, it may be due to lack of knowledge of best practices. Audience Question. If you asked questions in a telephone interview, is it appropriate to ask a question, and then try to resolve the point over the telephone? Answer. Listen carefully to the questions. If there are two questions on a particular topic, the area is important! You should ask your questions after you have researched the issues. For example, “what happened to the incumbent in this position?” “What made the incumbent successful?” “What issues are there?” Mr. Moliski’s important advice:
Be prepared for the following question: Why have you been out of work for six months? (Possible answers: because you did not want to take the first job you were offered; or you did not want a position, which was a poor fit for you.) How do you show passion? You must rekindle the passion you have for work. You are outstanding, and you can do a lot for a prospective employer. This passion should be clear to the interviewer, not defeatism. Audience question: Is it OK to cancel an interview due to a bad cold? Answer: Don’t cancel an interview. Attend, and apologize for the cold, making it clear you think the interview is important, regretting for example, a nasal voice. Mr. Moliski offered two stories, in one case showing how a negative became positive, and the other how a positive point became negative, and how both fit into a client’s needs. When the Arthur Anderson accounting firm was in crises, the candidate employed by the firm worked with firm supervisors, firm clients, and the FBI, proving that a prospective employer needing a candidate who could handle merging two plants, while laying off 60% of the employees at both, could handle very difficult crises situations. The second story involved a person who accepted a position at McKinsey and Company, the leading management consulting firm in the country, and worked there for three years with very good people, but became frustrated because he could analyze business issues but not participate in the development of plans to resolve those issues, and see the plans through to their conclusions. He wanted to join a company, which would permit him to analyze the needs, consider the options, and bring the issues to conclusions. Mr. Moliski’s speech received enthusiastic applause. Bob Moliski’s contact information: Moliski Partners, LLC; (773) 924-5406; rmoliski@moliskipartners.com; www.moliskipartners.com Mr. Randall concluded the meeting by asking all to leave their cards and to pick up one card, and call that person later to discuss relevant points. Submitted by Robert Cannon; rhcannon@aol.com
ENG Minutes July 14, 2005 |
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