Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

  A growing number of professionals are reporting a similar experience: • Multiple interview rounds  • Executive panels  • Strategic presentations  • Weeks of silence  • Or a generic rejection email after significant engagement  At the finalist level, this is no longer an isolated occurrence. It is becoming a pattern. The question is not whether hiring is competitive: it is. The question is what hiring behavior reveals about organizational leadership. What’s Driving This? 1. Overengineered Hiring Processes  Search committees, layered approvals, compliance reviews, executive sign-offs. When too many stakeholders are involved, communication ownership becomes unclear. 2. Risk Aversion & Decision Paralysis  Budget uncertainty, shifting priorities, internal candidate considerations. Silence often reflects internal hesitation more than intentional disregard. 3. Automation Culture  Applicant Tracking Systems streamline work...

  With so many modes of communication available today, reaching out to someone has never been easier, or so it would seem. Text, email, WhatsApp, social media DMs… and yet, these very options often become excuses for not connecting at all. “You didn’t get my message? Oh, I sent it on WhatsApp.” Somewhere along the way, the simple phone call seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur. Since the COVID shutdowns, I’ve felt that something essential has been lost in how we communicate, and perhaps more importantly, in how we relate to one another. The absence of physical presence and human touch may have contributed to a growing atmosphere of impatience and discourtesy. We’ve seen the effects play out vividly in service and retail industries, where employees were leaving jobs mid-shift after being verbally abused. And that’s before even touching on the state of political discourse. So how do we fix this? How do we rebuild meaningful, respectful connections? I don’t pretend to ha...

 

  Every so often, the world becomes frantic about a “new” technology that is going “change everything” or replace entire industries. Recently, I uploaded a professional photo to my LinkedIn profile, and when I say professional , I mean just that. I did use AI, but not to enhance my appearance or make me look younger, change my complexion, or alter who I am. I simply wanted a clean, polished headshot style that, not too long ago, we would have paid a photographer good money to produce. The reality is, I still had to use a real photo of myself, gray beard, and all. AI simply helped create the right background and presentation, and it cost me nothing. It was interesting some of the comments I got when I posted it; most were positive, some were playful teasing, however, some bothered me a little because the first thing they said was “AI!” in a derogatory manner, and I was not even hiding the fact I used AI. Why the vehemence? It is just a tool! It reminds me when we started usi...

  The job market today is unstable in ways that are difficult to capture with statistics. Headline unemployment rates look reassuring, but they ignore two critical groups: those who have stopped looking after months or years of failed searches, and those who are highly qualified yet continually overlooked due to subjective, opaque hiring practices. The reality that people are living does not match the numbers we are being shown. Many Americans are already living paycheck to paycheck, so it doesn’t take much to tip a stable life into crisis. Picture this scene, because versions of this story happen every day. You and your spouse both work. The bills are paid, your children are in college, and although nothing is extravagant, life is steady. Then, without warning, one of you loses a job. Suddenly your two-income household becomes one-income overnight, and that one income isn’t enough to sustain where you live. Unemployment benefits help, but only briefly; they were designed as a temp...

  Altruism: “is the principle of unselfish concern for the welfare of others, involving behaviors that benefit others at some cost to oneself, without expecting a reward” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/altruism   Key aspects of altruism Selfless concern : defined by a focus on the well-being of others, prioritizing their needs over one's own personal interests or safety.  Lack of reward : actions motivated are performed without the expectation of any personal gain, such as money, praise, or societal pressure.  Cost to self : the act of helping others may involve a personal cost, whether it's a small sacrifice of time or a greater sacrifice.  Empathy and emotions:  often driven by emotions like empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.  Philosophical doctrine : in philosophy, it can also refer to the ethical doctrine...

  Resiliency, a term that is used in multiple ways within numerous circumstances, the meaning can be subjective, and yet we must strive to achieve this state in today’s world. Some core aspects of resiliency are probably: ·        the ability to keep moving forward when you feel you no longer can, ·        to maintain your dignity in the face of indignity, ·        and to continue to be civil in the face of incivility. Easier said than done sometimes but never give up! Dr Flavius Akerele III The ETeam   #resilient #dignity #courtesy #yougotthis #nevergiveup