By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

"So, what, you think you're a minder read and can read minds, right?! Ha!"

I often find myself fielding this question although sometimes it's delivered in a tone of voice that conjures up images of an accusation such as "charlatan!" rather than a genuine question.

But that's okay, as it shows interest and engagement on the person asking it and once they allow me to explore a little more with them, they are usually hooked and have an "aha!" moment.

....

So the simple and honest answer to this question or perhaps the rejoinder to this accusation is, of course, I'm not a mind reader nor do I purport to be. And yet my results are there and they are what they are with them being more often than not extremely uncanny in their accuracy. 

The most important insight from my work and research that I try to impart to my students, clients and skeptics is that you don't need to be a mind reader to be accurate in your reading of a situation because in most cases the party in question through their actions, reactions and inactions almost to a tee loudly and graphically telegraphs exactly what they are thinking and how they are thinking as well as their intentions.

....

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Have you ever wondered why companies so often hire or overpay for the wrong talent? You know, talent that often is just terrible. 

All while you can't seem to land a job.

This presentation is from the HR or Hiring Authority's perspective but it would greatly behoove you to be aware of what so often goes on in the sausage factory, allowing you to better understand and leverage this reality for your own career benefit.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!


Fierce & Ferocious Office Politics...Isn't it time the "good guys" won?

Sometimes the best defense not to throw in the towel or yield but to mount a napalm-laden offense.

Yielding and deciding to quit and find a new position in the face of fierce office politics simply kicks the can down the road, effectively mortgaging your future with the payments coming due when you can least afford them. 

Trust me on this.

This can be solved with the right attitude and training, very quickly. Did you know that in most of these cases, the dirty politicker is standing on a woobly chair, amongst a greased floor with a rope around his or her neck? 

You simply need to distract them so that they lose their balance and do themselves in...or....surface the "opportunity" to another aggrieved party who has no compunction in "bumping" the chair.

By James Santagata
Principal Consultant, Career OverDrive!



                            Friend or foe? Can one ever really know?

In today's fast-paced, rough and tumble work environment, not only are the tides of fortune and personal and professional alliances constantly shifting, but your initial assessment of an individual, group, company relationship or situation may be completely incorrect (to your detriment).

So what can be done about this and how can you get a better if not more accurate read on the people, situations and relationships around you?

The key to this is to develop or enhance your situational awareness, both passive 
and active modes. Situational awareness is, in fact, a critical skill that will serve you well throughout both your personal and professional life.

So what exactly situational awareness?

"Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission. More simply, it’s knowing what is going on around you."

(source:  http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/training/tct/chap5.pdf‎ )

The trick then is to develop this skill on both a passive basis (simply receiving what information or signals are within your grasp) and an active basis (where you project some energy and watch for the feedback or return signal). 

Both passive and active modes can be automated by simply making this a beneficial habit -- "set it and forget it".

Now, let's look at the passive mode. This may be as simple as keeping your eyes and ears open for new information, both overt and latent. For instance, it may come from overhearing a phone call or conversation from an adjacent cube or work space, noticing documents left on the copier or printer, watching a co-worker's or customer's facial expression, seeing who goes to lunch with whom, for how long and how often and so on. 

In addition, by making a mental note or keeping a very simple spreadsheet of what is or has been received from what source as well as what information seems or seemed congruent or non-congruent along with the historical outcome of the received information you will begin to develop a very good lay of the land.

In other words, by simply watching actions and keeping mental or written notes it's a piece of cake to identify or even flush out inconsistencies, white lies and full on bullshitters. That is, if you trust what you are receiving and seeing as it is - the positive worldview -- not as you would like it to be - the normative worldview.

Now let's move on to the active mode. In the active mode, like a radar or sonar system, you simply direct a very small amount of energy at the situation or person to paint (illuminate) or ping it and then wait to see what signature or profile is returned.