In an accusatorial tone, many mothers have said things like, “If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” The insinuation is that real friends don’t encourage you to take risks. From my experience a true friend, or even just someone who has your best interests in mind, will ask you take to huge leaps, even giving you a shove from time to time.

Taking…

Take No Prisoners is a free weekly memo from Scott Wintrip that explores how Radical Accountability prospers companies and changes lives. Instead of taking people hostage with outdated, heavy-handed, and ineffective methods of management, measurement, and motivation, Radical Accountability focuses on creating an unwavering responsibility for getting what matters most done.

Why is it that some companies consistently perform well, regardless of what’s happening in the…

Some interactions with candidates almost seem to be divinely inspired, while others feel like you’re trudging though mud and muck, getting nowhere fast. What’s the cause of these very different scenarios?

Inspired Recruiting, an almost effortless interaction with a candidate, always has two components: trust and compulsion. Without both of these, recruiting becomes a more difficult task.

Without trust and compulsion, you experience Shields…

During a conference I spoke at last week, I met two types of leaders: those whose businesses were experiencing accelerated growth and the rest whose companies seemed to be stuck in neutral, going nowhere fast. The key difference in the leaders of these firms is decision making. Without exception, the leaders whose firms are growing fastest have leaders who think more nimbly and act more swiftly.

When making decisions, people strive to get them right. Never have I met…

Over the years there have been lots of “Got” campaigns, one of the most famous being “Got milk?” In selling, when we get stuck, it seems far from being a pleasant experience like a mustache from a tall, cold glass of milk.

This was true for Fred, a manager who ran a book of business in executive search. As Fred sat across a conference table from me, he clearly had gotten quite stuck. He was in a slump of all slumps, having not closed a deal in several months. For a guy that had always…

You may find this commentary odd coming from a guy referred to, at times, as a trainer. While it’s true that I teach leaders and some staff, in addition to my consulting work, I’m an educator, not a trainer, as I don’t work with animals.

Education, done well and done right, is not training. Training works for animals because of the repetitive nature of the act of getting a lion or a killer whale to perform a task for a reward. Humans, while they benefit from repetition and…

“When you can do a common thing in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” – George Washington Carver

Too many firms in the staffing and recruiting business still compete on price even though it’s the least sophisticated way to sell. At times, even highly talented, seasoned veterans use this harmful technique when they’re afraid of losing a deal.

Our industry would do well to remember that buyers know that the…

Take No Prisoners is a free weekly memo from Scott Wintrip that explores how Radical Accountability prospers companies and changes lives. Instead of taking people hostage with outdated, heavy-handed, and ineffective methods of management, measurement, and motivation, Radical Accountability focuses on creating an unwavering responsibility for getting what matters most done.

When two or more people put their…

More than 70% of current and prospective buyers see you as a necessary evil. Some, such as those in HR and procurement, use stronger language, calling recruiters “scum sucking pig dogs” or admitting they engage staffing firms only for “problematic use” (yes, these are real quotes from buyers).

How is it that an industry that impacts the most important asset of…