Today, we announced that I've joined Testing-as-a-Service leader Testlio. I've known and worked with the Testlio team for more than 5 years—as both an investor and an advisor. I love the people, product, and market.

​While I'll continue to coach, advise, and invest through Alder Growth Partners, the vast majority of my time will be spent with Testlio. For more information, please see my blog post on Testlio's website.

I've published a thought piece on the future of work for Conscious Company Magazine. In it, I analyze five qualities and what they mean to the world of work. Fundamentally, I hold that work is becoming more distributed, open, human, neighborly, and caring. You can read the full article here.
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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Photo by Faye Cornish on Unsplash

One of my favorite all-time sales hires was Chris. When I first met Chris, he didn't have much experience. He didn't know our industry. He didn't understand our product. There were many reasons not to hire Chris.

But I hired him anyway. Why? Chris had performed at a very high level. In his case, he was an All-American college athlete. And Chris knocked it out of the park for our company, quickly becoming one of our top performing reps.

I've written before on factors to consider when hiring for sales positions. One of those factors is what I think of as "excellence:" a demonstrated ability to be very successful in some area of life.

A lot has been stated about why athletes make great sales people (try a quick Google search). The playing field is one area where success is measurable. But it's not the only one. 

I've hired musicians. Academics. Hobbyists. Artists. Writers. Programmers. Gamers. All have done well. In sales roles and other positions (customer success, marketing, technology, services, etc.).

What I've found is a pattern of aspiration, drive, discipline, and confidence. Of course, there are other factors to consider when hiring. But these traits of excellence have been meaningful in my experience. Specifically:

* Aspiration: in order to flourish, you need to have a vision for something big. You see success. And want it. 

* Drive: your vision needs to be coupled with the energy and grit to pursue it. You generally have the intrinsic passion to go for it.

* Discipline: high-level success comes from commitment. The day-to-day discipline to stay with something, see it through, and overcome obstacles along the way.

* Confidence: whether an enabler or an outcome, confidence is important to fuel ongoing success. True confidence (which feels different from arrogance) can be inspiring and cascading, making others around you better.

So, as you're looking to make your next hire, consider asking yourself: has this person been great at something? Why were they great? How much did it matter to them? Do they want to be great at this job too?

If you can find someone who has been excellent before, and who fits other criteria for your company and role, there's a good chance that they'll be excellent again—for you.

Photo by Matthew Kosloski on Unsplash

I've been curious for awhile about the correlation between humility and leadership. Do successful leaders tend to be more humble? Do they value humility? What conditions and environments tend to reward humble leaders? 

Pelin Kesebir, an Assistant Scientist at UW's Center for Healthy Minds, has been exploring humility and how it connects to well-being. Kesebir "likens humility to a fertile soil in which happiness grows." And she defines humility as "the ability to see oneself in true perspective and be at peace with it."

I like this definition. Often, we see humility as a weakness. But like vulnerability, as unpacked in Brene Brown's work, humility can be a strength. 

Research shows that humility correlates positively with social relationships. Interestingly, both self-reported and peer acknowledged humility help foster quality relationships.

And humility seems to translate to business relationships, and to the effectiveness of leaders. According to a 2014 Catalyst study, "humility is one of four critical leadership factors for creating an environment where employees from different demographic backgrounds feel included."

There's actually quite a bit of research and field work on humility and leadership. This Washington Post piece does a nice job summarizing it. 

My takeaways:
1) true humility is strong rather than meek; 
2) intellectually humble people often perform better on novelty and academic tasks;
3) humble people are often more fair and generous;
4) leaders who display high humility frequently put an organization's needs ahead of their own;
5) humble leaders can have less employee turnover and higher employee satisfaction.

​In 2015, researchers Owens and Hekman offered in the Academy of Management Journal, “Our findings suggest that humility appears to embolden individuals to aspire to their highest potential and enables them to make the incremental improvements necessary to progress toward that potential.”

I love this. Humility can free us to pursue our greatest potential—and highest impact. 

How does this resonate? Do you tend to lead with strong humility? Does your organization reward humble leadership? Do you feel equipped to see yourself in "true perspective" while also pursuing growth? And might you take further steps to nurture a humble, curious, others-oriented mindset as you foster your leadership journey?

In a piece for TechTarget, I offer perspectives on the importance of narrative, relationships, and alignment with business goals as large company CIOs pursue major digital transformation initiatives. These comments are based on my recent work for a global, 100+ year old company that is in the midst of a compelling, multi-year transformation. You can read more here.

The journey of personal evolution, discovery, change, and growth has been a personal one. As I've been a student and practitioner, I've also gathered and developed perspectives that I offer to others. This Medium post unpacks three pathways to individual transformation. It also offers a framework for transformative product development, along with a gentle rally for the reader. 

 The annual employee review process can often be stressful, and when done poorly, detrimental. On Entrepreneur.com, I offer a few tips on approaches that I've seen work well, including a "leading and learning" framework that I learned from the amazing Jessica Orkin.