Diversity & Inclusion is critical to your company’s success but it is not a strategy. Here’s why... D&I needs to be built into the DNA of your company instead of being treated with kid gloves. Besides, hiring like-minded people is bad for business!

Today’s Quote:

"Our diversity is our strength. What a dull and pointless life it would be if everyone was the same." - Angelina Jolie

About the Guest: 

Mike “Batman” Cohen is the Founder of Wayne Technologies, a recruitment training and search firm.  Mike has over a decade of experience placing technologists, recruiters, and business development professionals, and has conducted training for Corporate and Agency Recruiters.

Throughout his career he’s learned several things that he’s committed to paying forward:

1. We can’t make it on our own - we need community

He has worked with a diverse group of clients ranging from GIPHY, Spotify, TripAdvisor, Digital Asset, MacDonald Miller, etc.

He contributes articles to SourceCon, has a chair in the Program Committee with ATAP, helps run SourceHouston, and is a Brand Ambassador for ERE.

Mike has spoken at:

• Talent42 (June 2019)

Show Highlights:

• Why Diversity & Inclusion is not a strategy

Problem:

Why is Diversity & Inclusion such a hot topic?

• Diverse communities are growing and matriculating faster than any other

Why is this important to organizations?

• Are we hiring because of D&I to check off boxes?

Shouldn't we just be concerned with hiring the best person?  

• Just start hiring people who make you uncomfortable

What about the alignment of core corporate values?

• Define corporate culture.

Solutions:

If Diversity & Inclusion isn’t a strategy, how do we accomplish it?

• You don't want to hire someone just because they are a certain classification

• It has to go beyond “skin deep” - this isn’t about the way someone looks, it’s about integrating all different walks of life or trains of thought or images into your brand.  

• It is a top-down mind-set as to how the business operates and what it considers important, successful, and a good fit

• Companies aren’t built on strategies - they are built on vision and mission - Strategy is simply how we get there - is your company built on top of a foundation (mission and vision) that doesn’t celebrate diversity, but instead values it as a competitive advantage?

Rick’s two cents:

What should be your strategy?

• Hire People who perform

Key Takeaways:

• D&I isn’t a strategy, it’s a business mindset

Erik Huberman, Founder and CEO of Hawke Media, Managing Director of Nest Equity Partners, and Operating Partner of Arrowroot Capital Management

What are the biggest challenges in building a distributed team as a startup? Today we discuss how to Hire, build process and lead in a distributed model. We will learn that uncovering the right people hinges on the Individual's desire and their emotional intelligence.

Today’s Quote:

“Completing one another is more important than competing with one another." - John C. Maxwell

Show Guest:

Mark Angel is the CEO and Co-founder of Amira Learning, the company reinventing learning to read with AI.  Amira is a rapidly growing, venture-funded startup bringing the first intelligent reading assistant into K-3 classrooms.

Mark formerly served as Chief Technology Officer at Renaissance Learning, where he led the R&D organization and worked on the two most successful reading apps in the United States – Accelerated Reader and STAR.  He has worked for 30 years in the Silicon Valley as a CEO, CTO and General Manager for innovators in the realm of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (Ernst & Young, Nuance, KANA Software).

Mr. Angel is the founder of three successful start-ups.  He is a chief inventor on more than 10 patents in the areas of search.

Episode Highlights:

• The Story of the Challenges faced when building a distributed company

Problem:

Challenges in Hiring a Distributed Team:

• Hire for the distributed model

• Learn to screen for people who are truly able to function in a distributed environment

• Challenge: creating infrastructure and culture of behavior to help people to collaborate

What issues have we struggled with around hiring?

• Where they will Thrive!  

• People are not self-aware around work mode…

Discuss the Model

• Need to put the issue up front before people get excited about the rest of the story and fool themselves and consequently us

Core Values alignment

• We need to be conscious that some folks like talking/collaborating and for others, it’s not the most pleasant part of the day.  We aren't going to change a leopard’s spots.

Creating a situation where there is a balance of work and not having too many meetings. Keeping people in a place where they are getting constructive work behavior. Getting that work done but also helping others to get the work done. People are happiest when you find the “groove”.

Rick’s Challenges

• An issue of Upfront Expectations alignment

• Continually ask “Why” 

Solutions

What have we done about this?

• Put this issue front & center in the interviewing process

• Getting out of the skills-based mindset.

How do we manage work?

Baking collaboration into everyday environment. Tools like google suite/slack/zoom/github/atlassian -- basically emphasis is on creating the norms around the tools. Understand when they should be using the tools

• Slack, Zoom, Gmail suite,  Google docs works really well, hangouts did not for them.

Allow people Flexibility

• Work at home or at Wework, Techspace

What went right & wrong in the process?

• right -- took a "team experiment" approach

Rick’s first step

• Take the time to understand a person’s desires before you “Pitch” the company

• "If you could design your ideal company, what would that look like for you?"

Key Takeaways:

• Hire people who are self-aware - Hire for EQ & cultural fit first

Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO of Gupshup

Non-verbal communication and digging for clues to get to the root of who people really are.  93% of our communication is delivered non-verbally. Extracting the correct information starts with your openness and then observing how things unfold.

Today we are going to hone your ability to read people better in an interview!

Today’s Quote

"You don't have to tell me what your limits are when the decisions you make, your actions and body language says it all."  

― Marlan Rico Lee

Show Guest

Ernie Basulto developed an early interest in cultural and human relations as he grew up in two separate countries.  He was inspired by his father to develop the ongoing needs of the Hispanic workforce, and has done so by providing support and guidance to both business leaders and employees throughout his 26-year tenure in Human Resources.  Ernie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

Recently, Ernie was a Senior Human Resources Business Partner at the 5th largest retail mortgage lender in the nation, and is currently the Director of Human Resources at Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. At Antis he provides leadership in all aspects of HR including hiring practices, establishes company culture, and guides employees to find their Purpose at work.  

Episode Highlights

• How to build rapport

Problem

Focus on “Skills” clouds our vision so we misread people. Why is this such a problem? First, we need to get people comfortable in a manner that is congruent with your environment

• Open interaction

Solutions

How do we structure the interview and what should we be looking for?

• Opening question to behavioral

 Reading Body language

• What to look for?

Rick's Points

• Be Aware of your own body language! Open & Positive

• Important to make people comfortable first

• person trying too hard to build rapport

 Key Takeaways

• Observe & Mirror

Brian Frankel, Marketing Consultant of Ignite.Consulting, TiE Charter Member, and Founder, of Mentor Matchmaker

Ravi Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of OOtify, TiE Charter Member, Investor, and Mentor

The mistakes we, as entrepreneurs and hiring managers, make when building our companies. Often our need to fill overrides our logic in determining the fit between both parties and as result Core Values are often ignored. Assumptions, unclear expectations, and lack of diligence make for a perfect storm of a disastrous hire.  

Today’s Quote

"Hiring people is like making friends. Pick good ones, and they'll enrich your life. Make bad choices, and they'll bring you down." - Jason Fried

Show Guest

 Erik Huberman is the founder and CEO of Hawke Media, the fastest growing marketing agency in the United States. Launched in 2014, Hawke Media has serviced over 1000 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups like Tamara Mellon, SiO Beauty and Bottlekeeper to household names like Red Bull, Verizon Wireless and Alibaba. Hawke Media has taken home numerous industry awards including inclusion on the Inc. 5000 2017 list of “Fastest Growing Companies”, Fortune Magazine’s “50 Best Workplaces in Southern California” and Forbes’ “Content Marketing Companies to Check Out in 2018."

"Prior to Hawke, Erik founded, grew and sold two successful e-commerce companies. Huberman is the recipient of numerous awards including Forbes “30 Under 30,” Inc. Magazine’s “Top 25 Marketing Influencers,” and Best in Biz North America’s “Marketing Executive of the Year.” A regular contributor to major publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur and CS Q. Huberman is also a well-known keynote speaker.

Episode Highlights

• Break down one of your early hires and talk about the decisions that were made and why

Making a wrong Hire: Walk through the story

• Hired an executive, all-star, great background

* Post hire, you are not done once you made the hire. Once someone is hired, real-time investment into their success.

Rick’s Hiring Mistake

• Hiring Friends without clear expectations

Key Takeaways

• Stick to a hiring process - It must be Professional

We don't hire for human competency but for skill set.  Our language is inhuman in spite of the very real experience of working with HUMANS. People want Connection and Authentic Interaction. We need to understand What makes you, you?

 Today’s Quote:

“Learn everything humanly possible about everyone you do business with." -Harvey Mackay (Swim with the Sharks)

Show Guest:

CEO of Balance Integration Corporation | Advocate for Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement

Tevis Trower is a pioneer in optimizing corporate cultures. Heralded in bestselling Megatrends 2010 as “corporate mindfulness guru for the new millennium”, Tevis has assisted powerful organizations ranging from Disney to Morgan Stanley in optimizing their most precious assets: human beings. She has created and facilitated global executive immersions for prestigious organizations including Harvard Business Review Events, Young Presidents Organization, PWC, Bloomberg LP, Viacom, Google and The Economist on issues including mindfulness, executive lifestyle, personal mastery, innovation, and the role of consciousness in creating radical success.

You can find profiles and expert advice from Tevis featured in respected media outlets including Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Glamour, YogaJournal, CIO, Pink, RealSimple, Crain’s, New York Post, Financial Times, WWD, New York Observer, MSNBC, FoxBusiness, NY1 and Martha Stewart. As NYU Faculty teaching Business Creativity & Personal Mastery, Tevis has also served as worklife expert to WebMD and Huffington Post. Tevis lives what she teaches spending time in NYC, Montauk and Woodstock, enjoying surfing, snowboarding and entertaining friends at home with her dachshund, Ruby.

Episode highlights:

• Why it is important to re-humanize your hiring process

Problem:

Why is this important?

• Because we focus upon skill development to get into the roles we aspire to, we buy into the notion that work and life are separate. But the reality is that we are only one person, one being.  

• Truth: Most of the best people, have the worst resumes

Mindset

• Creating a corporate culture happens one conversation at a time. Talking about what you are passionate about, what matters to you.

Rick’s Thoughts

• Stay away from “stinkin thinkin”  - Transactional thought

Solutions:

By shifting the language we begin to shift the mindset.

Changing the language - humanize

• What does it mean to be human at your company?

• life count, heart count.

• Not filling a seat or role, rounding out our community

The breadth and depth of this person.  

• Talk about the eulogy and not the resume

If the adage is that people leave managers, not companies, they probably refuse offers from managers as well. Foster a culture that supports the value for success. Are they Google-ly?  And what happens when being googly becomes a weakness? Homogeneity can be a downfall.

Rick's Plan

Cut out words like “candidate”, Job Description, industry terms

Key Take Away:

• Tune into your own Humanity

Before you hire, you need a clear understanding of what you need and Why. What is required needs to be focused on the work that needs to be accomplished. And that’s Why it helps to prioritize the level of importance.

The most crucial part of the recruiting process is understanding why this is really needed. It is often overlooked.

 Today’s Quote:

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." -Colin Powell

Show Guest:

Greg Toroosian has spent the best part of a decade recruiting for technical positions across software, IT, and hardware verticals. He also has experience building non-technical teams including finance, marketing, business strategy, legal and operations. His career started in the UK as an agency recruiter working with companies in various industries and at different growth stages. He’s currently the Director of Talent Acquisition at sweetgreen where he oversees the team that manages all corporate hiring for technical and non-technical teams. sweetgreen is set to grow rapidly this year due to their focus on technology and the recent large round of investment they received.

Episode highlights:

• Defining what is needed and why

Problem:

• Hiring managers don’t really know what they need

• Prioritizing the work

Solutions:

Focus on the What and then the Why

• Greg’s Intake Process to define the What & Why - Request Greg's Intake Form: [email protected]

Rick's Input: 

• Write down the actual work that needs to be done with a timeline

Key Take Aways:

• People are attracted to the problems you solve