Friday, 23 August 2024 04:47

CEO shares the top 3 red flags she sees in employees: ‘No one wants to be in their presence’

Rate this item
(0 votes)

Deryl McKissack is no stranger to spotting toxic traits.

McKissack, 63, is the founder and CEO of Washington D.C.-based construction firm McKissack & McKissack, which she launched with $1,000 from her savings in 1990. She churned through employees who weren’t the right fit in her company’s early years and the business struggled, she says.

Finding the right talent helped grow her company, which now brings in $25 million per year in revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

These three red flags stand out the most when McKissack is hiring employees or evaluating her current talent, she says.

People who lack integrity

Every boss needs to be able to trust their employees, McKissack says. People who lack integrity are a problem, especially managers who don’t give their teams proper credit.

Alarm bells go off in her head “if someone is saying ‘I did this’ the whole time, and they’re not giving credit to their team,” McKissack says.

McKissack isn’t the only person who says a lack of integrity is a red flag among employees: Heidi K. Gardner, a professional leadership advisor and distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School, similarly calls out workers who pass off other people’s work as their own. It’s unethical, and it gives off the impression that you don’t respect your colleagues, Gardner told Make It last year.

“Maybe they’re unable to actually see how much value the people around them bring to their own success,” she said. “And that inability to appreciate other people’s contributions is a huge red flag for me ... It’s anti-collaborative.”

People who are hard to be around

Nearly every team, no matter your industry, needs people who can work well with others. That’s difficult when your co-workers don’t like being around you, or vice versa.

McKissack says she needs to actually like her employees’ personalities, because if she doesn’t like to be around you, chances are, clients won’t either. “If I don’t want to be in their presence, then no one wants to be in their presence, usually” she says.

Having a warm, inviting personality at work can potentially take you farther in your career than your capabilities and credentials, self-made millionaire and entrepreneur Steve Adcock told Make It in April.

“Your personality will get you 10 times richer than your intelligence,” said Adcock. “I learned that throughout my career, slowly but surely. I worked with a lot of smart people, no doubt about it. But those smartest people in the office weren’t necessarily the ones getting the raises and promotions.”

People who don’t live up to the company mantra

McKissack has a three-word mantra for her business: humble, hungry, smart. She says she picked it up from author and business management expert Patrick Lencioni’s book, “The Ideal Team Player.”

“We have an insatiable appetite for success,” McKissack wrote on LinkedInearlier this year. “Humility drives us to make decisions for the collective good ... [and] we value emotional intelligence because we know that’s what builds strong relationships.”

Expecting employees to embody those three descriptors — humble, hungry, smart — turned McKissack’s firm into a workforce full of people dedicated to the same mission, rather than one that struggled with low employee engagement, she says.

They’re the “three virtues” of successful team players, according to Lencioni’s book.

“I kept saying, ‘We’ve been stagnant for years. Why am I stagnant?’” says McKissack. “But when I made that decision to make our mission larger than just what we do, bricks and mortar, but make it more about the betterment of mankind, is when we really started changing.”

 

CNBC

October 03, 2024

3 success tips for new managers

Sho Dewan Leaders are not born, they’re made. It may sound cliché but it’s true,…
September 23, 2024

APC candidate Okpebholo wins Edo governorship election

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, has…
October 01, 2024

Lasting change starts with leaders

Shani Harmon For every good reason to change the way we work, there are dozens…
September 21, 2024

Father installs surveillance camera on daughter’s head to keep an eye on her

A Pakistani father fearing for his daughter’s safety made her wear a surveillance camera on…
September 25, 2024

Binta Nyako withdraws from case as Nnamdi Kanu shouts: ‘I have no confidence in this…

The presiding judge in the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the Indigenous People…
October 04, 2024

What to know after Day 953 of Russia-Ukraine war

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Powerful Russian bomb destroys Ukrainian ammunition depot – MOD The Russian military has…
September 23, 2024

LUTH begins bone marrow transplant treatment for sickle cell patients

Following years of research and planning, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has successfully launched…
September 22, 2024

Dubois knocks down, knocks out Joshua to retain IBF heavyweight world title

In an astonishing upset, Daniel Dubois delivered a career-defining performance, defeating former two-time world heavyweight…

NEWSSCROLL TEAM: 'Sina Kawonise: Publisher/Editor-in-Chief; Prof Wale Are Olaitan: Editorial Consultant; Femi Kawonise: Head, Production & Administration; Afolabi Ajibola: IT Manager;
Contact Us: [email protected] Tel/WhatsApp: +234 811 395 4049

Copyright © 2015 - 2024 NewsScroll. All rights reserved.