9 Things to Never Say in a Salary Negotiation

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You’re 96% sure that you are ready to schedule a meeting with your boss to ask for a raise. Or perhaps you’re nearing the end of the job interview process and an offer is in sight. However, if you’re like me, you have definitely put your foot in your mouth a time or two saying the wrong thing at the absolute worst moment. Doh!

Don’t mess up. 

Don’t mess up.

No matter how many times you rehearse what to say, there’s always that risk of fumbling right at the five-yard line. Instead of panicking, get prepared.

To coach us along in the salary negotiation process, we turned to Josh Doody, author of Fearless Salary Negotiation. “A salary negotiation is a collaboration, and a key ingredient of a successful collaboration is good communication,” says Doody. “It’s important to be very clear with what you communicate to avoid ambiguity, which could complicate things and slow the negotiation process.”

Instead of Doody simply sharing the things you should say, he’s here to warn you about the potential negotiation landmines to avoid when angling for the salary you deserve. Here are 9 things to never say in a salary negotiation:

1. “Currently,” as in “I’m currently making…”

The most common question recruiters will ask a candidate is something like, “So where are you right now in terms of salary, and what are you looking for if you make this move?” Don’t fall for it.

“I call this The Dreaded Salary Question and it’s tricky because it usually comes up early in the interview process, and most candidates don’t think of it as part of a salary negotiation even though it is,” says Doody. “Answering this question by disclosing numbers can make it very difficult to negotiate effectively later on because it can box the candidate in. Once they disclose current or desired salary, the offers they get are very likely to be tied to those numbers. That can be very expensive if the company might have offered them a much higher salary than they disclosed.”

2. “Desired,” as in “My desired salary is…”

Don’t disclose your current or desired salary! “Recovering from this mistake can be tricky and each situation is unique. But one way to untether from those original numbers is to review the benefits package for deficiencies,” says Doody. “If the health insurance offering, paid vacation, target bonus or other aspects of the benefits package are underwhelming, the candidate can use those as reasons to ask for a higher salary to compensate.”

Instead, try something like :

I’m not comfortable sharing my current salary. I would prefer to focus on the value I can add to this company rather than what I’m paid at my current job. I don’t have a specific number in mind for a desired salary, and you know better than I do what value my skill set and experience could bring to your company. I want this move to be a big step forward for me in terms of both responsibility and compensation.

3. “Sorry”

According to Doody, “negotiating is uncomfortable, and our natural tendency is to try to smooth the edges on a difficult conversation. Saying sorry could signal to the recruiter or hiring manager that you might be willing to back down, and that could be expensive. Don’t apologize for negotiating.”

4. “No” and other negative words

“You want to continuously improve your situation throughout the negotiation and you do that by avoiding negative language and focusing on positive language. Instead of “No, that doesn’t work for me.” (two negative words) you can say, “I would be more comfortable with…” (positive words). Negative words slow things down and may put up walls that make collaboration difficult. Using only positive words is difficult at first, but you’ll get better with practice.”

5. “Yes”

While this may sound like the exact word to use when speaking to a recruiter, Doody insists it should be used with caution. “You’ll often get a job offer that seems really appealing, and it might be far more than you expected. Your instinct, in that case, might be to just accept the offer because it’s so good.”

But is it too good?

“It’s possible you underestimated your value in this situation. Instead of “Yes”, formulate a counter offer to see how much you can improve it. The negotiation should end with the company saying “Yes” to you. Once they say “Yes” to you, or you run out of things to ask for, then you are finished negotiating.”

6. “Later,” as in “I can deal with that after I start.”

Procrastinators, this one is for you. “Sometimes it’s easier to avoid uncomfortable parts of a negotiation by deferring those parts of the conversation until after you’re hired. That can be a very expensive mistake because you won’t have the same latitude to negotiate and improve your position once you’re in the door. Push through the discomfort and get the best possible result now,” Doody advises.

7. Try, as in “Can we try…?”

“Try is a passive word that leaves a lot of wiggle room, and you don’t want that,” insists Doody.  “It’s easy for someone to say — honestly or not — “We’ll try…” and reply with, “We tried and it just didn’t work out.” Don’t ask them to “try” to do something. Instead, use more positive language like “I would be more comfortable with.”

8. More, as in “I want more…”

While this word seems counter-intuitive because you are negotiating to get more, it’s a word that is too general for a successful negotiation. Instead of asking for “more” salary or “more” vacation, this is your time to get specific.

“Don’t leave things to the imagination once you’re negotiating. Instead of “Could you budge on the salary?”, say, ‘I would be more comfortable with a base salary of $105,000.’”

9. Want

Lastly, the word “want” can tank negotiations. Using it can undercut the entire premise of your argument that you deserve to be paid more and you deserve a more competitive salary. Go into a negotiation with facts and figures, making a compelling case. Start with printing out the results of your personal salary estimator, Know Your Worth. See what you base salary should be and see what the industry norms are.

“You could talk about what you want, which just isn’t all that important. Or you could talk about what the company wants, which is not as potent as talking about what the company needs, which are the most important thing,” adds Doody. “Focus on the company’s needs and how you can help meet those needs so they can easily see your value and work to compensate you for it.”

Read the original post here.

Husted For Ohio event scheduled for Friday

A special event will be held in the BARRYSTAFF building on Sept. 1.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who announced his candidacy for governor in May, will make a campaign stop at BARRYSTAFF. A meet and greet, hosted by Senator Peggy Lehner (R–Kettering), Representative Michael Henne (R–Clayton) and Representative Niraj Antani (R–Miamisburg), as well as many local officials, will take place in the building’s community room.

The event is set to start at 10a.m. It is expected to wrap up between 11 and 11:30 a.m.

Click here for details.

 

 

Gen Z Is Coming and They’ll Be Changing Your Culture Forever

There are numerous articles discussing millennials and employee engagement. Some people bemoan millennials and others tout them as invaluable additions to the workplace.

However, it’s up to all of us to foster employee engagement. Any energy we expend complaining about one generation, or comparing them to another is simply a waste of resources. One of my best lessons in learning to appreciate cultures I am not accustomed to, presented itself with my teenage son. My son is not a millennial; he would actually be considered Generation Z, which includes those born in the early 2000s.

Regardless of how one slices up the generational chronology in the U.S. population, the fact of the matter is each generation brings something unique to the table. If, as HR professionals and business managers, we have an issue with millennials, then what is going to happen in the next few years when Generation Z hits the workforce in numbers? We as leaders today, need to fully appreciate culture and how culture differs between generations.

As I mentioned, my son, along with the prompting of my wife, helped me discover the importance of culture. Like all Gen Zers, my son grew up a true digital native. He never knew what it’s like to be “out of touch” or what dial-up sounds like or understand the meaning of “Please be kind and rewind.” Although he is lacking in awareness of the past, which is totally acceptable, he is fully engaged in the digital world.

A digital culture

He would share with me the frustrations of gaming — how some people were rude, curt or downright bullies. At the time, I casually dismissed his complaints because I viewed his digital happenings as only games. My wife gently reminded me, after a particularly frustrating day for him, that these are more than games with him. The people he is friends with online, are real to him, even if they are only digital. Point of fact that is his culture.

What I learned was that if I wanted to be in to my son’s life, then I needed to take time to learn his digital “customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” of the people he gamed with online. I made an effort to learn more about online gaming including the terminology, and during my research learned the virtually unreported impact that massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) have on America.

Due to the popularity of online games like Overwatch, which gained 30 million players in just one year, it was clear my son’s digital culture was in full swing. If you as a leader are having issues relating to or understanding millennials today, then you are already behind. Generation Z will likely baffle you, with their regular use of social media platforms like Slack, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and KIK as primary forms of communication.

Now is the time to get ready

Today is when your organization needs to start incorporating social media to communicate with employees and prospective job candidates. That will give your company a strategic edge when the job applications from Gen Z start rolling in. Additionally, as HR professionals we need to not only learn about digital natives, but also join them.

We live in a globalized society without digital borders. To ensure our organization’s success and competitive advantage we need to adapt to and become adept at what our current and future employees’ digital culture will look like.

For those of you who think that video games are still just “games” and not a burgeoning digital culture, I have some bad news for you. According to a 2015 Entertainment Software Association (ESA) report, almost half the population of the United States plays video games. Culture, whether personal or digital, will be a factor in successful organizations as the next generation joins the workforce.

This article, written by Stewart Simons, was originally published here.

 

Watch the Humane Society bring kittens to the office

It’s a heartbreaking story.

On Sunday night four kittens were put into a duffel bag and tossed into a pond in Dayton. A passerby witnessed the bag being thrown from a car and promptly called the Humane Society of Greater Dayton. The kittens were rescued and — despite all odds — are getting stronger every day.

The person who witnessed the crime was unable to get a license plate number. The kittens are only three weeks old.

Click the video below to watch what happened when the kittens visited our office.

Employee Spotlight: Catherine Harlamert of Gapi USA Inc.

Learning curves are intimidating. No doubt about it.

“I’ll have someone call up and need a three-eighths inch rod that specs to an ASTM D-1710,” says Catherine Harlamert of Gapi USA Inc. in Clayton.

“I basically moved from jacket sales to high-molecular plastic and it’s a totally different world,” she said.

Indeed it is, but Harlamert caught on. Now her responsibilities are increasing and she may start traveling with a sales rep to meet distributors face-to-face. A trip to Italy may be in the works.

BarryStaff placed Harlamert at Gapi after she approached the company looking for a change. She knew she could do the job … if she kept the faith.

“It’s really been one of the smoothest transitions I could have asked for,” said the former salesperson of school jewelry and athletic wear.

Gapi is a manufacturer of custom molded polyurethane products. The company has a presence in many countries around the world.

In spite of its global status, what’s impressed Harlamert the most has been the family atmosphere in Clayton. When new decor was needed for the walls, management took employees to Hobby Lobby to pick out pictures for decorating. Then they were treated to dinner.

“It’s nice to see a company include the staff in these types of changes, it really shows how much the management respects the employees and wants to make sure they are happy and involved at work on all levels” she said.

The road ahead is bright for Harlamert. And she credits BarryStaff with giving her a nudge in a new direction.

“BarryStaff has been awesome,” she said. “If I have any questions, my emails are always answered quickly.

“I wouldn’t be here if not for Barrystaff,” she said.

Click here to watch a short video featuring Catherine Harlamert.

 

Employers Reveal The One Thing Someone Did During An Interview That Got Them Hired On The Spot

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Via Tickld.com

Employers of Reddit were asked: “What is one thing someone has said or done in an interview that made you want to hire them on the spot?” These are some of the best answers.


But one guy said “Well…..I like enchiladas a lot…..and I have IBS….so I may rack up your toilet paper expenses”

Hired him on the spot, honesty and hilarity in one package. I figured in the very least he would be entertaining to work with.

MadameInternet

2. On the way to the conference room for the interview, interviewee instinctively picked up a gum wrapper off the floor and threw it in the nearest trash can. I just caught this peripherally, and he made no effort to show off his “insignificant good act.”

Honestly, I have never hired a single person on an impulse or based on something clever they said/did in an interview. It’s about qualifications and overall leaving a good impression. Trash-boy did get hired, and his simple act was really representative of him being pleasant and thoughtful. He also had several years experience in field.

I’ve been hiring for years, I do pick up on little things… sometimes a gum wrapper can distinguish one candidate from the others.

3lazycats

3. I never “hire on the spot”, as I always give some thought to the decision even when I’m very positive about someone.

However, I usually give screening tests to candidates. I had one young, inexperienced candidate that did not even pass the first screening question. Afterwards asked me to show him the correct answer and said something along the lines of “Thanks for showing me that I have a lot to learn.” I asked if he wanted some pointers & ended up lending him a book on the subject. A few days later I decided that that’s the attitude I’d like to hire and gave him the green light. Did not regret.

PoisonTaffy

4. One of my hiring questions is, “Tell me about a time you made a mistake doing a job. Tell me what happened and what you learned from it.” One girl said, “Well, this story is kind of gross and might not be what you want, but it’s what comes to mind right away.”

Then she told me about a time during her medical internship at a local hospital where she tried to prove herself to a skeptical doctor by taking a large dead body down to the morgue by herself, even though she had never gone down before and was supposed to take someone else with her. She was a tiny girl, but in good shape and apparently when she got down there she was supposed to move the body from the gurney to a slab (which is why she was supposed to go down with another person). She tried to move it on her own, but failed to lock the wheels on the gurney first and ended up on the floor, pinned under a large dead body for over fifteen minutes before anyone found her.

She said that from that she learned to follow procedures and to not be too cocky to ask for help when she needed it. I didn’t see how I could not hire her after that story. Because it was so genuine and atypical from the usual answers I heard for that question.

5. On a technical interview for computer stuff…

Me: if you come across a problem you’ve never seen before, how to approach it?
Soon to be new employee: I’d Google it.

This is the best answer. Most people go crying to vendors or support contracts before doing a simple Google search, and I find that offensive.

threeLetterMeyhem

6. We were hiring for a specific position and had arranged a number of interviews for it from pre-screened applicants. As we had to play with real people’s real schedules, we ended up with the strongest candidate (UC Berkeley PhD) going first. He did very well in the interview and it was kind of a given that we’d hire him.

This left us in an awkward spot with one very interesting interview of someone completely without a degree. However, there were budget restrictions so this was a long shot.

Meanwhile inside the company we had a fairly complex technical problem going on. Instead of just having a “hi… bye” interview with this other guy, we threw our complex problem at him about 24h before the interview. The [guy] solved it before the interview, and did it really quite brilliantly.

At that point I was willing to go to the ropes to get him.

Delheru

7. I was hiring for a graphic design position, and had a number of resumes on my desk. One guy had actually reached out to me personally through our website, and I just told him to email his resume to our job inbox.

We had just moved to a new office, and I posted a photo one morning to our Facebook page showing the new view off to our fans. That afternoon, he showed up at our office in a suit and tie, asked for the job, killed the interview and got it. He figured out the general area we were in from the photo, called the various office buildings to ask ahead, found us, and just showed up. 2 years later, he’s still there and doing an absolutely fantastic job.

kranzmonkey

8. I hired someone for giving me a dirty look in an interview.

Allow me to preface this by saying I really despise the interview process; I find that a person’s resume generally tells me everything I need to know and for me the interview is merely a formality to insure the applicant doesn’t have any personality or hygiene issues.

That said, I was hiring a desktop tech. I had a really stupid question that went something like “If I give you this, this and this piece of information would you be able to connect a PC to our domain?” The correct answer was yes.

Three applicants stammered and stuttered and said they figured they could but might need a little practice. The fourth applicant looked at me like I was insane but answered in the affirmative with no hesitation.

I hired her on the spot.

wizard10000

9. Post most of the interview, when we’ve turned to “Do you have any questions for us?”, the guy said, really matter-of-fact and not at all obsequiously, “Well, I’d like to know if there’s anything that we’ve talked about that has left you with doubts about me, so I can be sure you’ve got the information you need when you’re considering my fit.”

It was so simple, but so honest and effective because it was phrased as, ‘i want to help you be thorough’, but also quite self-serving because it got out in front of those doubts — we were immediately amazed that no one asks this. I’m never going to not ask it again (not that I’m looking, in case my boss has a line to the NSA).

hnice

10. Hiring for a programmer position and I decide to just Google his name. Turns out he also owns a Darth Vader outfit and puts it on to go visit sick kids in the hospital.

I hired him so fast it would make your head spin.

artformarket

11. He stalked me and found out my birthday was that week. Came to the interview with a cupcake from Georgetown Cupcakes and awkwardly sang me Happy Birthday in front of all the other interviewees.

I ended up firing him a month later for being terrible at everything.

skimble-skamble

12. I was interviewing people for a seasonal outside job, and I was doing the interviewing inside the marketing dept in an available office. This young kid with long hair, a spiked dog collar, upside-down crosses for earrings and a trench coat was my next interview and as we were walking to the office I was using, I noticed several marketing staff whispering and staring with shocked expressions at this kid. He walked with confidence and waited for me to sit down before he did, he was very polite and made excellent eye contact and gave me the best interview of the day.

When I explained that since this was a position dealing with the public and children and told him the earrings and dog collar would have to go, should he be hired, without hesitation he removed them and gave me this charming grin and I hired him on the spot and told him he was the most genuine person I had interviewed so far. He turned out to be one of my best employees and was hired full-time and stayed with me for 5 years.

astepUPfromperving

Continue reading here.

5 Social Media Productivity Tips for Busy Professionals

In the US alone, social networking is ranked as the top online activity, with one typical American allotting 37 minutes per day on social media websites (according to Go Gulf). In addition to that, Global Web Index revealed that 28% of the average online users’ time in the general population, is spent in social media.

The numbers are quite staggering, aren’t they?

Of course, since everyone believes in this chain of thought, “where your customers are, there you should also be”, it just makes perfect sense for business owners and marketers to just jump in the social media bandwagon.

However, despite how mouth-watering the prospect of marketing via the different social media channels might seem, not everyone are getting great results from it – mainly because they get distracted.

In fact, according to an article published at Contentbistro, social media is pretty much their number 1 source of distraction for solopreneurs and business owners.

Have you ever gone to Facebook with the hopes of pre-marketing your new product, only to end up getting distracted watching videos of Stephen Curry’s godlike crossover moves? Or you ended up watching on of Gary Vaynerchuk’s motivational videos, perhaps?

Friends, the problem is real.

If you’re struggling with getting things done while on social media and are looking for ways to be more productive while on the platform, then you’re on the right place.

Allow me to share with you 6 tips that can help you with just that.

Let’s hop right in.

1. UNDERSTAND YOUR GOALS.

Remember that in any business, you can’t afford to play pin the tail on the donkey.

The reason why most companies succeed at using social media is that they have clear-cut goals of what they want to do. In most cases, every single step was thoroughly planned out before they were executed. By having clear goals in mind, you are taking ambiguity and the role of chances out of the equation.

You can start by answering these questions:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What step was thoroughly planned out and what does your target audience want to know and need to know?
  • What should your content look like?
  • What are the biggest problems they are dealing with?
  • How can you give solution to these problems?

These are just some of the many questions that you can ask when crafting your social media marketing gameplan.

Once you have the core steps planned out, all you need to do is just stick to it so you can avoid reacting to every single thing that comes to your social media profile’s news feed.

2. WORK ON YOUR TASKS IN BATCHES.

Time is a resource that is highly valued, and if it is exhausted without you yielding any kind of productive results, it would definitely cost you a lot.

When you have tons of things to do on your checklist, you attempt to switch from one task to another in order to get things done the soonest time possible.

Well. Guess what?

Our brains aren’t made for multitasking, and this article will tell you why.

Batching things up means allotting time for a specific cluster or type of goals/agenda first before proceeding to work on other goals. Simply stated, you do things by batch. This technique will help you get your goals in order, eliminate distractions, and schedule ahead of time.

That being said, I suggest that you categorize your tasks and work by following these tips:

  • Prepare your draft of posts or a POST BANK so that it‘ll be convenient for you to just pull them out when the time calls for new posts. Thanks to Facebook’s features, you can schedule posts ahead of time or save drafts:

image: http://cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Social_Media_Productivity_2.png.png

 

  • Follow peak hours. Web users are more active in specific hours of the day.
  • Understand which posts are timely and which are not. The point here is to make your product relevant to your customers given the seasons or the trends.

3. CREATE A CONTENT CALENDAR.

Some companies stay active for a period of time and the next thing you know, they’re off-the-grid in social media. A content calendar helps keep you committed. That way, you remain consistent and you won’t have any excuses.

According to Forbes writer Pamela Springer, “For your social media marketing plan to succeed, it’s crucial that you consistently interact online; even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. If you can’t put in the time, it’s best not to start.”

Your content calendar can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. The important thing is that you create one and follow it.

It should contain the plot of your posts, the corresponding dates as to when you want to publish them, include the themes for your posts (among others). Feel free to add other details like specific time of publishing, which social media platform to use and respective purposes of posting.

Important note: If there’s one thing that I really like about using content calendars, it would be that I have a bird’s-eye-view of how my ideas would flow. This helps me polish the message that I am trying to convey on each post giving my updates consistency and more focus.

From Homelessness to a New Promotion: Herb Thompson’s Inspirational Story

Herb Thompson at ASPM in Vandalia.

A few months ago Herb Thompson was homeless. Now he has a fully furnished apartment and a new outlook.

He’s also accepted a promotion.

“What more can you ask for?” he says with a smile.

Born and raised on a Preble County farm, Thompson moved to Dayton at 18 and  immediately found work in manufacturing.

“At 19 years old I was firing up million dollar equipment,” he recently told us.

He enlisted in the Navy worked as a technician for six years. Specifically, he specialized in electronic surveillance on submarines. When he returned to Dayton in the late 1990s, he learned that manufacturing had “fallen off completely.” So he worked for Auto Zone. And Time Warner Cable. For a while he operated a tow truck.

It became increasingly hard to find steady work. A tough job market mixed with a bad break or two led to homelessness.

Eventually the military veteran linked up with Volunteers of America. They referred him to BarryStaff. Within a week of interviewing with Barry, he was working at the ASPM plant in Vandalia.

Even then, he wasn’t super optimistic to begin working as a machine operator.

“It was the type of job I tried to avoid all my life,” he says. “I thought it would be mind numbing.”

Nevermind the repetitiveness, he was told. Work hard and you’ll quickly advance.

He took the advice and used the foot in the door to his advantage. He rolled up his sleeves and hunkered down. Within weeks, he could keep up with workers half his age. Thompson’s confidence grew. The promotion quickly followed.

“I now have an apartment — a wonderful little apartment. I’m gainfully employed. And I feel my value is being appreciated.”

He’s now working as a material handler, which comes with more responsibilities. Does he look back? Yes and no.

“I try not to look back too much,” he says. “However, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”

Then Thompson, who has a way with words, quickly sizes up his journey.

“I’m happy,” he says. “If I was any happier I couldn’t stand myself.”

 

7 signs you’re a leader people want to follow

It’s not always easy to gauge how you’re doing as a boss.

Your reports aren’t always likely to tell you how you’re undermining their performance — or even what you’re doing well that they’d like to see more of.

The best solution to this problem is probably to ask for direct feedback. But where to start?

We’ve rounded up seven signs, based on research and expert opinion, that you’re doing a great job of rallying and motivating your team. Ask yourself how much each trait or behavior describes you, and consider asking your employees the same.

You’re generally positive

Research from 2015 suggests that happy people make more effective leaders.

That’s largely because they’re more likely to display transformational leadership, which means they’re especially good at inspiring and motivating their team and stimulating them intellectually.

Interestingly, according to the research, positivity was an even better predictor of leadership effectiveness than extroversion — a personality trait we typically associate with successful bosses.

This isn’t to say that you should force yourself to smile and laugh at every team meeting. Instead, it might be more helpful for those in the position of selecting future leaders to be mindful of those candidates’ overall affect.

You’re not afraid of change

Young managers are perceived as more effective than their older counterparts, according to a study of more than 65,000 leaders conducted by leadership development consultancy Zenger/Folkman.

One key reason why? They welcome novelty.

Zenger/Folkman says it’s possible that younger managers’ relative lack of experience means they’re more optimistic about the changes they propose and more willing to be the “champions of change.”

You’re pretty boring

The technical term is “emotional maturity,” which means being emotionally stable, agreeable, and conscientious.

As business psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writes in The Harvard Business Review, “[T]he best managers in the world tend to be stable rather than excitable, consistent rather than erratic, as well as polite and considerate.”

That might be part of the reason why Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, is so successful. Rather than being emotionally volatile, like Steve Jobs for example, Pichai is reported to be predictable and to stay out of the spotlight.

In other words, Jobs is more the exception than the rule — better to emulate Pichai if you’re hoping to lead your team to greatness.

You demonstrate integrity

Chamorro-Premuzic also suggests that integrity is a key component of leadership effectiveness. Acting in unethical or counterproductive ways will ultimately undermine you and your organization.

In fact, one analysis found that CEOs rated as high-integrity by their employees had a multi-year return of 9.4%, while CEOs rated as low-integrity saw a return of only 1.9%.

Psychologist Travis Bradberry highlights several traps that leaders fall into, which can undermine their integrity.

One such trap is making everything about them — instead, you’ll want to actively solicit questioning and criticism. Another is micromanaging — remember that productivity looks different for leaders and individual employees. Give people a chance to do their jobs well on their own.

Click here to read the full Business Insider article.