CALL YACHOL

 

CALL YACHOL

CALL YACHOL is a call center in Israel. It was launched by Gil Winch who had been a therapist in training. However he became frustrated with psychology. He felt it was not enough to help one client at a time. He wished to solve problems on a larger scale. He discovered that worldwide, people with disabilities were struggling to find employment. People with impairments in their hearing, vision, movement, memory, learning and communication shared a common experience. Whether they had a physical disability or a psychological disorder, they knew from a lifetime of stigma and rejection that they were likely to be underestimated or overlooked.

Gil wanted to showcase the ability of people with disabilities. He established CALL YACHOL, which is Hebrew for ‘able to do anything,’ the call center staffed entirely by people with disabilities.

For selection of candidates for hiring, Gil overhauled the interview process. In his system, the interviewers are hosts, not interrogators. They treat you like a guest in their home. It relaxes you. It frees you from anxiety, awkwardness and stress. In the bargain they are able to see you light up on what you love. Instead of bombarding you with intimidating riddles and unfamiliar problems, they challenge you, providing the opportunity to exhibit your skills in familiar or conducive situations. They encourage you to showcase your abilities, leading you through real time work samples. And if you fail, they give you a second chance to succeed.

At the end of the interview, they ask you to rate your interview experience. They ask you what they can do differently to get to know you better.

The process enables the highlighting of each candidate’s skills. Here skills are gauged by what people can do, not what they say or what they have done. It doesn’t try to trip people up. It gives them the chance to put their best foot forward.

Industry insiders were skeptical that Gil’s hiring model would work. They didn’t expect that people with disabilities would thrive in a fast paced, high pressure environment. But they did.

In one case he had a manager who was legally blind supervising an employee with hearing loss. Though it didn’t sound like a recipe for success, Gil was confident it would work. Having seen their strengths up close, he knew the distance the team was capable of travelling. They didn’t just meet expectations. They shattered them.

Harvey is another example of the virtuosity of Gil’s model.

Harvey who was on the autism spectrum, was struggling to concentrate when he showed up for his second interview. The interviewer called for a break and gave him an hour to reset. He aced the redo and got the job. But it was a difficult assignment. It was a cold-calling job, where rudeness and rejection were the norm. People never last in this kind of a job. But Harvey was a paragon of grit and resilience. He’s now been a star for eight years, consistently reaching his monthly goals and receiving an award in front of whole team as the employee of the quarter.

It’s explicit that an interview model like Call Yachol’s is not just a compelling way to open the door to underdogs. It’s a way to recognize the potential in everyone. It brings each candidate’s skills to the forefront.

It is evident, if the normal is selection by elimination, brilliance has little scope to go places.

Hidden Potential

Adam Grant

 

 

OBSTACLES

 

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life

as by the obstacles,,,,,,,overcome while trying to succeed 

Booker T Washington

It's a mistake to judge people solely by the heights they've reached. By favouring applicants who have already excelled, selection systems underestimate and overlook candidates who are capable of greater things. When we confuse past performance with future potential, we miss out on people,  whose achievements have involved overcoming major obstacles. We need to consider how steep their slope was, how far they have climbed and how they've have grown along the way. 

The test of a diamond in the rough is not whether it shines from the start, but how it responds to heat and pressure.

STRESS

 

Stress is a part of life. But you need to learn to manage it.

You have to learn to let go of what's not in your control.

Though wisdom comes with time, it is important to listen when someone shares their learnings with you.

Please do not wait for your own crisis to teach you the same thing the hard way.

Your body repays the care you give it.

Life can be uncertain.

Listen to your body's signals.

Even if you have none of the risk factors, smoking, drinking, diabetes or hypertension, you could be at risk.

The best diet won't help if your meal timings are erratic.

Your priorities need to change. Your family becomes your number one priority. 

Take care of yourself to ensure they get quality time with you.

LADDER // LATTICE

 

LADDER // LATTICE

In most workplaces opportunity exists on a ladder, not on a lattice. While the ladder, in the corporate structure, shows you the path to the leader at the top, the lattice is a crisscrossing structure like checker board that offers multiple paths to the top.

The lattice system rejects two unwritten rules that dominate ladder hierarchies – don’t go behind your boss’s back or above your boss’s head. These implicit rules often stop many people from speaking up and being heard. It removes the threat of punishment for going around and above the boss.

In the Ladder system a single ‘no’ is enough to kill an idea or even a career.

Managers often say no because your idea might be a threat to their ego – if it’s good -- or their image if it’s bad. The tide is invariably turned against the one who comes up with a creative suggestion.

It happens like that because unproven ideas carry too much risk and uncertainty.

Managers know that if they bet on a bad idea, it might be a career limiting move, but if they ignore a good idea, it’s unlikely anyone will ever find out.

And even if managers are supportive of an idea, if they perceive leaders above them would not like it, they tend to see it as a losing proposition.

All it takes is just one gatekeeper to shut out a new frontier

‘Hidden Potential’

Adam Grant

SHE

 

SHE

She is the incredible co-founder of everything that matters in my life.

I am fortunate to be cast as her companion.

She has always surprised me.

Ever since we became one, we have always been going around together.

She had been conscientious at her job till she superannuated

However, family  was and is her prime concern.

She had always pursued whatever she liked most.

Though her own people discouraged her, she went ahead to learn driving and had become an expert driver.

Retirement did not halt her.

She had sought out a school where they taught embroidery and stitching.

She went on to stitch her own dresses and was happily doing embroidery work on saris.

She was quite good in stitching her granddaughter’s dresses

She is an expert cook, with experimentation her forte.

She now takes the initiative to do things that she loves, finding happiness over whatever she does.

She is an excellent example, no matter the age; you can find your own happiness.

She knows very well improvisation is an important constituent of life.

Improvisation comes with experience, exposure, practice and the tasks you accomplish employing your skill.

To improvise her system is fully charged with what she has read and assimilated and they come together at the most appropriate time.

Dynamic all along, she never has a rigid frame of mind.

She is with you.

 

 

CHARACTER

 

CHARACTER

Character matters more than talent.

Character skills propel you to higher peaks.

They predict and produce success in life.

Character and personality are not the same.

Personality is your predisposition – your instincts for how to think, feel and act.

Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts.

Knowing your principles doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to practice them, particularly under stress or pressure.

The true test of character is whether you manage to stand by the values when the deck is stacked against you.

If personality is how you respond on a typical day, character is how you show up on a hard day.

Personality is your tendency.

Character skills enable you to transcend it and remain true to your principles

PIVOTAL

 

Understanding of self and mastering of self are pivotal in life

Opportunity would never come knocking.

You have to build your own doors.