Prescription Medications Can Be Dangerous for Seniors

Prescription Medications Can Be Dangerous for Seniors

Here are six risky drugs for seniors:

 

Diabetes drugs with a long half-life: Diabinese (chlorpropamide) can lead to prolonged and serious hypoglycemia in seniors. Short-acting agents, such as Glucotrol (glipizide) are good alternatives.

 

Anticholinergic antihistamines: Diphenhydramine (Benadryl and others) should be avoided as they can cause confusion, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, cognitive impairment, and delirium. Clearance of the drug from the body is slower in elderly patients. Alternatives include Allegra (fexofenadine) and Claritin (loratadine).

 

Muscle relaxants: Flexeril, Robaxin, and others can also cause the types of anticholinergic effects listed above. Alternatives are to treat the underlying condition with physical therapy, ergonomics, and application of heat or cold.

 

Oral mineral oil for constipation: They can cause inflammation of the lungs. Alternatives are increased fiber in the diet plus adequate hydration (drinking lots of water).

 

Benzodiazepines: Valium and other drugs in this family should be used with caution in the elderly as they can cause or worsen cognitive impairment. They can also cause delirium and an unsteady gait, which leads to falls with serious consequences like hip fractures. Alternatives for anxiety are non-drug interventions such as behavioral therapy or relaxation techniques, like yoga.

 

Potassium-sparing diuretics: Triamterene, amiloride, and spironolactone should be used with extreme caution in the elderly who may have reduced renal function. They can cause dangerous elevations in potassium levels, which can lead to serious, even lethal cardiac arrthymias.

Now is our time to have faith, to train our children to live by faith and to elect leaders who will trust God

The Faith That Wins!

-Dr. Marshall Foster

Europe is entangled in a war to the death against a relentless enemy out to destroy its precious Christian heritage and bury its liberty. Radical Islam is on the march, manned by tens of millions of immigrants with multiple wives and a massive birthrate. At the same time, most native Europeans have left the Christian faith and fewer and fewer are marrying or having children. The future seems bleak.

What are the known weapons against such a foe? One is the free press which can expose the enemies of liberty. Another is the use of intelligence to rat out terror cells before they act. And when all else fails, there is always the reversion to mass warfare using superior weaponry to kill millions and hopefully break the will of the enemy.

However, these weapons are not sufficient to hold back the tide of Jihad which has been at war with Christianity since the seventh century. There is only one weapon that can defeat the forces of a pagan ideology, whether Nazism, Communism or radical Islam. That weapon is biblical faith. The writer of
Hebrews defines this weapon in Hebrews 11. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.”

Chapter 11 goes on to detail how this weapon was used by great heroes who by faith, “subdued kingdoms, brought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness became strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Now that is a powerful weapon. The examples below of three European Christians in the 20th century illustrate the power of the weapon of faith. These men arose at times of great crisis in Europe.

Eric Liddell in the 1920s; Winston Churchill in the 1940s; and Christian Fuhrer in the 1980s. Eric Liddell was an obscure seminary student in Edinburgh, Scotland. But in 1924 Eric rose to fame at the Olympic Games in France. He was considered the fastest runner in the world. But because of his principled commitment to keep the Sabbath, Eric would not compete in his race, the 100 meters which was held on a Sunday. As an afterthought he was placed in the 200 meter race later that week. He beat the world’s best athletes against all odds. He became a national hero in Britain and was offered royal titles and the golden key to success when he returned from France.

But Eric had a larger vision. His faith called him to give his life to the mission field of the forgotten masses of souls in China. So in 1925 he left for China and served there with his father and family, never to return to his homeland. When WWII broke out Eric was warned to leave China as it was being overrun by the Japanese. He sent his family home but felt he must stay with his Chinese friends and was thrown into a prison camp. Winston Churchill and the English offered a huge ransom to get Eric Liddell out of the camp. But as the train arrived to pick him up, he placed a pregnant Chinese woman in his seat. He died of disease in the camp, just 3 months before the end of the war.

How does Eric Liddell’s story illustrate the power of faith? When Eric died there were fewer than 5 million Christians in China. But the Chinese believers were inspired by Eric’s faith and other pioneers of the truth. Eric’s faith and sacrifice ignited the torch of faith in millions. Today the number of Christian believers in China is approaching 200,000,000 and China is expected to become the largest Christian nation in the world in our lifetime. The “Back to Jerusalem Movement” in China is training hundreds of thousands of Chinese believers to take the loving gospel of Christ through the Muslim lands of Asia through Pakistan and Iran and on to Jerusalem.

“Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.”
Eric’s faith saw beyond the moment all the way to our century.

In the 1940s, another crisis of faith in Europe was solved by a man of faith. Europe was paralyzed with fear of the Nazi juggernaut. They had just come through WWI which had killed an entire generation of their men. Now they faced Adolf Hitler. Most people in Europe and America were cowering before the Nazi war machine. Millions of the French flocked to the cabarets, drinking their fears away. The English also were living in a dream world of “peace”. Their prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, even signed a “peace in our time” treaty with Hitler just a few months before the Germans started WWII.

It took the Germans only weeks to destroy the French army and trap the English army, 400,000 men, on the coast of Belgium at Dunkirk. During this crisis, with the eminent fall of England and all of Europe at hand, the English called up an old, Christian warrior, Winston Churchill, to be their Prime Minister. Churchill and King George VI called the people of England back to God in a day of repentance and prayer on May 26, 1940.

As the leaders and millions of English met and wept in faith that day, God answered their prayers. Through the miracle at Dunkirk 600 little boats ferried 330,000 soldiers back to Britain right under the direct fire of Hitler’s tanks and air force. God had turned the treacherous English Channel into a sea of glass and covered the sea with a blanket of fog, blinding the German planes.

However, within weeks the entire continent fell to the Nazis. England faced a summer of massive bombing attacks by the Germans called the Blitz, in which almost 50,000 people perished. How could a 66 year-old political has-been turn the tide of tyranny against the greatest army in history? Churchill almost single handedly lifted a nation and the entire free world from hopelessness and fear through his example of faith and his powerful words.

That first summer when Germany’s eminent invasion of England was looming, Churchill lifted the bar above politics to the real spiritual struggle between paganism and Christianity.

He said. “I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.” In another speech before Parliament, Churchill refused to listen to the voices of surrender. He said, “You ask, what our aim is? I can answer in one word, Victory – victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.”

The premiere weapon that defeated the Axis powers in WWII was not the bomb or America’s manufacturing of war material. It was faith. And, the spark that ignited that faith was Winston Churchill. He is considered by most historians to be the man of the century. Faith overcomes terror.

In the 1980’s Europe lay divided and on the verge of nuclear holocaust at the hands of the USSR. The Russians had divided Germany with a wall of death since 1960. Into this crisis of civilization stepped an unsung hero. His faith, and that of the East German Christians became the driving force behind the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. His name was Christian Fuhrer, a Lutheran pastor at the Cathedral in Leipzig, East Germany. Christian began the prayer movement in East Germany in 1982. His people gathered to pray for peace and freedom every Monday night at the Cathedral. He and the people were persecuted, beaten and threatened by the Communist government.

But the pastor continued and on October 9, 1989, one month before the unexpected fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of East Germany, he led a prayer march through Leipzig and confronted the troops and tanks of the government with a hundred thousand people praying and carrying candles of peace. The government troop refused the order to fire on their fellow citizens and dropped their weapons and joined the rally. Simultaneously that night other East German cities held massive prayer rallies. This show of spiritual courage broke the back of Honacker’s tyranny and led to the fall of the Wall on November 9, exactly one month later.

I privately met with pastor Fuhrer in Leipzig at his Cathedral in 2001. What a man of faith and courage! Last year, on June 30, 2014, just as all Germans were beginning the 25th Anniversary celebration of their freedom, Christian Fuhrer went to be with His Savior. He was the man who by faith had inspired an entire nation to stand against atheistic Communism.

The message here for our time is that enemies against God’s plan of redemption for His world are always on the prowl. But God has His “Ambassadors of Faith.” They see beyond the fear of death brought on by bullies of the evil one. The Nazis failed, the USSR failed and the Muslim extremists will fail to extinguish the light.

Now is our time to have faith, to train our children to live by faith and to elect leaders who will trust God to see into the future and as Churchill said, lead us to our “Finest hour.”

Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

I was a late bloomer. It took me 25 years to finally become an entrepreneur!

When I finally graduated from college after the war in ’73 (that’s 1973, not 1873), there was a recession going on and the only place that offered me a job was Kroger company unloading trucks, stocking shelves, ordering merchandise and running a checkout stand during busy hours.

Pretty glamorous, eh?

About four months of that grind was all I could take. Resigning quickly from Kroger was unheard of at the time and my friends thought I had lost my mind.

Then Levi Strauss & Company, one of the best then and now, hired me.

From Strauss I went to work for a smaller company in Indiana.

I had become an entrepreneur.

During my 7 years at the Indiana company, a large a success Medical Device company, I had been executive director over quality, regulatory and involved deeply in New Product Development.

Yet when, at the end of every year, as our company kept bringing in new business, making money and winning awards, at least one of the other companies would be losing business and money, thereby always reducing my bonuses and raises.

I finally decided that if I was going to truly benefit from my efforts, I might as well lose the training wheels, run my own show and take my own risks.

So, at age 52, I became an entrepreneur.

My only business plan for this new venture was knowing that I was going to succeed.

I picked up my first major client, five months after resigning from the previous company. And while the word “entrepreneur” conjures up swashbuckling, sexy, romantic images to many, to me it was always tough, sometimes lonely and never predictable.

I wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. For the first few months I was a one-man band working out of my small home office (it did have a window!). I worked long hours 5 days a week and spent the weekend doing what most people have an assistant to do.  The rest, as they say, is history – albeit a modest history of which I’m proud.

Tips from a conservative entrepreneur: 

•         Pace yourself. Take the long view. You’re building your future. 
•        Work hard and play harder. That’ll strengthen your perspective, which, of course, is your edge. 
•         Pay your  vendors before you pay yourself. 
•         If you have employees, make sure your employees feel that they work with you, not for you. 
•         Encourage your employees to become and think like entrepreneurs. 
•         I you have to start with debt, become debt free as soon as possible and stay debt-free.
•         When you hire or utilize associates, focus on a few people smarter and wiser than you are. 
•         Learn from others wisdom; don't be afraid to ask for help.
•         Always remember in the market place, you’re only as good as your last piece of work.
•         Believe in yourself, not your own press.
•         Whether it’s good, bad or ugly, don’t be inflated or deflated by what others have to say about you.
•         Just be who you are, but know yourself very well.
•         Manage your expectations to prevent what may feel like early failures.
•         It’s never about how big you are, it’s how good you are. That will draw people to you.
•         Size only matters when it comes to the magnitude of your ideas.
•         Be boldly responsible and accountable.  Never blame

Fear stands between you and being your own boss and a successful entrepreneur. Nothing is ever easy, especially those that bring huge self satisfaction and personal success. 

Inflate Gate and Leadership

Inflate Gate and Leadership

You may be asking yourself what does Inflate Gate have to do with leadership.  I say it has everything to do with leadership.

Leadership is all about accountability.  Leaders choose accountability.  They do not simply accept it or take the responsibility, they want it because they know how important it is.

The current situation

By now, everyone knows about Inflate Gate; the fact the New England Patriots were playing with game balls inflated below the standard set by the NFL.  That the footballs were checked by officials and found to be up to standard prior to the game and at a point later in the game it was determined the game balls the Patriots were using were underinflated. 

What followed was a firestorm of reaction from all sectors.  Everyone (as usual) wanted to know what people knew, when they knew it and who was the most likely guilty party.

This set the stage for a moment of brilliant leadership action.  However, for the many that have seen or read Coach  Bill Bellicheck's public statements know he missed that opportunity.  The fact is, he raised more questions about himself, his team and especially his quarterback.  Leaders do not do this.  Leaders do not cast a shadow on the integrity of their organizations.

Being accountable does not mean confessing to guilt or claiming responsibility for an act.  It is choosing accountability over all else when a crisis hits.  I will not recount the whole of Mr. Bellicheck's responses, but to simply say he did not come even close to stepping up as a leader during this crisis. Think about all the articles and TV hosts that you and others have seen that have played a part in casting a shadow over the Patriots and the all time sporting event the Super Bowl.  None of this had to happen even though the facts of the deflated footballs remain.

Mr. Bellichek is not alone.  Leaders for whatever reason step over huge opportunities to be accountable and incur the consequences that come with it.  There was a moment and it was missed.

How could Mr. Bellicheck have done that you may ask?

Simply by taking accountability. What he did versus taking accountability stand in stark contrast.  Here is an example of what Mr. Bellicheck could have said.  You will quickly notice the difference.

First, I want to apologize to all the fans, the audience and most of all to my players. I have failed you.  I'm accountable for what has happened and will do my utmost to find out what happened, why and when.  That is my promise.  How did I fail?  I failed in allowing the desire to win to destroy the integrity of the game and especially my team that has worked so hard this year to reach the Super Bowl.  I have in some way behaved in such a manner that it has allowed one or more people to think that winning at all costs is acceptable.  This is never acceptable.  Somehow, that must have happened.  I would like to think it did not.  However, as the leader of this team on and off the field and until I discover reasons why not, I am and will remain accountable to the public, the owners and to the NFL.  I regret this happened and as I said before will not stop until I can stand before you with the final analysis of the situation.

This, is leadership.  This is what real leaders do.  They know that doing otherwise destroys confidence in their own integrity and those around them.  It is like a cancer that begins to rot and organization from the inside out.  That, while it destroys the brand that a company has spent years creating.  It only takes one crisis and one failure of leadership to destroy.  Leaders know that integrity is earned over time and one failure to step up to accountability can destroy what was worked for so hard.

Actions for You?

Choose accountability as a leader.  Pay attention to your behaviors and the messages it may be sending to the organization and people around you and take accountability for that.  Look for opportunities to step up and claim your leadership accountability when things go wrong.  People will respect your for that. That and you might even gain a new respect for yourself!

10 steps for achieving success in the Hidden Job Market

10 steps for achieving success in the Hidden Job Market

Step 1: Give Up the Job Seeker Label
Declare yourself to no longer be a job seeker and stop telling people you are looking for a job. This is perhaps the most difficult step, but it is the most important.

There may be a temporary vacuum caused by not knowing how to think and speak of yourself but not to worry, this gap will be replaced very quickly with a new, refreshing and empowering sense of professional identity, one that restores a sense of clarity, dignity and sense of personal power to your professional life.

Step 2: Adopt a New Empowering Identity
Declare yourself to be a problem solver, solution provider, fulfiller of unmet needs, consultant, adviser or mentor, whichever name appeals most to you. Choose a name you really like and one that you can identify with easily. 

If you cannot think of a good name, brainstorm with your friends or coach if you have one but most importantly stop talking about getting a job and being hired unless you like having doors slammed in your face. 

Labels are a form of branding or positioning which either open doors or close them. The employee label is a diminishing, self limiting label that often results in giving your power away. This is ultimately damaging to your self esteem and self respect. 

Step 3: Get to Know the New You
You will need to spend some time getting to know the new you, the person associated with the Real Me Hat. With support, you will find this to be a fun, exhilarating and immensely validating adventure. 

Your challenge is primarily in letting go of old outdated notions and beliefs that no longer serve you and which are simply no longer effective in the marketplace. The world has changed. It is time to wake up.

Acknowledging the truth about this to yourself may be difficult in light of the fact that so many advisors continue to tell you to revise your resume yet again and to do more networking.

Note: Networking is meaningless term unless you understand precisely what it means and have the tools and skills to bring about the end result. Without having all the tools, you are likely to get yourself more frustrated. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link.

Step 4: Translate Your Accomplishments into Solutions and Value
Most people are aware of their accomplishments but are often unclear on how their skills, talents and experiences translate into solutions and value to organizations. Since it is critical for you become clear and articulate about your unique value, it will be important to extract your special problem solving abilities from your accomplishments. 

The easiest way to do this is to start with one recent and important accomplishment. Go back in time to just before your accomplishment happened and take a visual snapshot in your mind of the state of affairs in the organization or environment in which you were working. Then ask yourself this key question: what were the chief problems or needs that existed? Write them down. 

Now fast forward to right after you completed your accomplishment and once again, take a snapshot of the situation and environment. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers.

• What changed from one picture to the next?
• How did the change occur? 
• Utilizing a problem-solution framework, what were the solutions that made the critical difference? 
• What previously unmet needs got fulfilled?
• How did you personally create and implement these solutions? 

Instead of focusing on your talents and skills that you usually take for granted, focus instead on the value that you brought to the situation. Now continue this process with your remaining accomplishments. When you have done this exercise with all of them, take a step back and look for the dominant pattern of solutions and value that you repeatedly bring to each situation. If you look closely, you will find this pattern. This will then become the focal point in your letter of introduction in step 6 below.

Step 5: Stop Using a Resume
A resume is a fundamentally limiting tool because it promotes the label of you as a job seeker. The resume is also an ineffective marketing tool because the intrinsic expectations and formal rules of resumes prevent you from selling yourself on paper in a compelling and effective manner. Professional resume writers may disagree but their "improvements" are still limited to a defined context. 

If you decide to actively pursue the 30% of advertised positions, use a functional resume only and keep a chronological work history separate from this document. Only provide your chronological work history if requested in an interview but otherwise do not even speak about it. Why? 

Chronological resumes are NOT effective marketing tools no matter how well they are written. They will also tend to pigeon-hole you into a stifling corporate mindset. A good example is the familiar gap in your resume, used by interviewers all the time to disqualify you.

Do you really want to play this game? Do you insist on punishing yourself in this manner? Here is a good response to the question "what were you doing between job A and Job B?"; "I was living my life, how about you?"

Step 6: Develop and Use a Letter of Introduction
In the place of a resume you will learn to use an amazingly powerful document called The Letter of Introduction. The advantages and uses of this tool are vast. The longer you use it, the more you will marvel at its many applications and level of effectiveness. 

Even the act of writing this letter is transformational because it opens the door to a freely expressive channel in you which allows you to convey who you are, the greatest value you have to offer and what you are seeking. 

The letter of introduction works equally well as an prelude to a serious business conversation and a networking interaction which can put you in touch with key people very quickly. You may want to have a few versions of your letter for different purposes. Learning to write and utilize a letter of introduction begins to awaken you to the world of effective marketing, something significantly absent in most job seekers.

The Letter of Introduction has several main components which are as follows:

• Opening paragraph to establish rapport and your reason for writing
• A Second paragraph honing in quickly and powerfully on your major value to organizations
• A short bulleted list of examples where you implemented solutions validating your assertion
• A Third paragraph briefly summarizing the most ideal projects for you.
• Final paragraph expressing why a phone conversation would be beneficial to both of you. This is virtually always the intended outcome of the letter.
• Important: Never use the words job, employment, interview, getting hired or salary anywhere in your letter!

You will acquire in depth tools and support for writing and utilizing your letter of introduction.

Step 7: Use Social Media Strategies to Identify Matching Problems and Needs
Once you know your specialty as far as solving problems and satisfying needs, your next step is to use all online and offline resources to identify potential sources of these needs. A good way to start this process is by asking a series of marketing questions that will allow you to effectively hone in on your target market and speed up the process of locating key people that match your profile. Here are some sample questions to get you started:

• What is your major targeted industry?
• What is your ideal company or organization?
• What are the primary problems or needs you have identified to be your greatest strengths?
• What are the people within organizations most likely to have direct involvement with these needs or problems?

Once you have answered these questions you can then start your search and sorting process. You will want to concentrate on LinkedIn and Twitter to establish connections but another great resource will be industry specific networks and contacts.

Step 8: Begin Conversations With People Matching Your Profile
As soon as you locate people who appear to be connected to your target market or industry, it is important to be proactive, to reach out and make contact. If you have some inkling that a person has a need you can address, it is best to make contact right away but be sure to establish rapport and make a connection before diving into the specifics of the situation. 

The art of relationship building and relationship based selling is one of our most powerful courses at Growth Innovations.

You will also find that you can share your goal and directly ask people for referrals to people and organizations that match your profile. Sending them your letter of introduction is usually ideal at this juncture especially if they give any indication of interest or receptivity.

Be sure you have a clear plan on how you are going to present yourself and the best way to interact with new contacts. You can work out these details with your coach if you have one and if not, you can do some role plays with friends or family. The aim is to get comfortable and confident with your approach and get it refined to the point where you can carry the conversation forward to completing a deal if appropriate.

Step 9: Complete Profitable Agreements With Best Organization(s)
Once you have started a conversation and identified the need or problem which matches your area(s) of expertise, you are ready to move into negotiation and make something happen. 

This can be a very quick and straightforward process when you have really clicked and have what the person needs. In other situations it may take several meetings to complete the deal.

Either way, you will want to be clear on the entire conversation and sales process and also clear on how you will take the person through the important steps. This is a stage where having a buddy or a coach for brainstorming is important. Role playing is the perfect tool for gaining clarity, skill and confidence in presenting yourself. 

Step 10: Utilize an Effective Learning, Coaching System to Ensure and Accelerate Your Success
If you feel able and confident completing all these steps on your own, great. Go for it! On the other hand, if you would like some assistance, I'm available to help you. 

The ideal starting point is a phone consultation in which we will assess your personal situation and then devise a complete plan of action tailored to your personal needs.

Keep in mind that most significant growth and learning in life takes place in the context of supportive relationships. No matter what your circumstances may be, working in partnership with others will have profound impact and value.

Words of wisdom for you.....

Here are six tips to avoid being a startup casualty

Here are six tips to avoid being a casualty:

1. Declare how big you want to be in 24 months and use this revenue goal to develop your game plan. Why 24 months? Because if you are to survive for two years while others die, you need to keep your eye on execution and the short-term results of your efforts. It makes no sense to waste your time on a five-year plan, for example, since the latter years may not matter if your short-term efforts fail.

2. Choose who you intend to serve. Where will you generate your revenue? Choose customers who have the potential to deliver the growth you want and be specific in your selection. Look for discrete groups of people who you believe want the value you provide. I always guide people to go after the ‘fast and easy’ customers since survival depends on how fast you ramp up sales. You can’t afford a six-month selling cycle in a 24-month game plan.

3. Determine how you intend to compete and win by answering the killer question: “Why should I buy from you and not your competitor?” This is where most businesses choke. You need to be clear and specific on how you are different than your competition. If you can’t answer the question, you will be judged as essentially the same as everyone else and will be invisible to the customers you’re targeting. The only statement is the claim that will distinguish your business from the herd: “We’re the only ones who...”

4. Focus on the critical few, not the possible many. You don’t have unlimited bandwidth and resources to do it all. Pick three things that you believe will help you drive your game plan forward and do them quickly. Many entrepreneurs fail because they are mesmerized by possibilities and try to achieve too much. Keep your to-do list short and get stuff done.

5. Cut the crap. Your game plan is as much about stopping things as it is about starting things. You can’t afford to continue activities that are not directly related to executing your game plan. Take an inventory of all the tasks you have on the go. Create a cut list of all the things you are now doing that should be stopped, and a keep list of the things you should continue to do as strong game plan contributors.

6. Plan on the run. Stay loose on your game plan – it’s not carved in stone. Be open to tweaking it based on what you discover and learn through execution. No plan ever turns out the way you intended; there are too many unforeseen variables at play. Plan, execute, learn, adjust, execute, learn, adjust is the planning model that works in a volatile world.

Final word: don’t get mesmerized by your long-term potential. Focus on the next 24 months; earn the right to stay in business longer.

Take The Risk Out of Hiring

Get help, don't go it alone!

One of the most important activities that impacts business success is hiring talented people into the right position.  However, research tells us this is one activity that is most often poorly executed in most businesses; especially smaller firms.  The cost for a hiring mistake in recent studies range from 2 – 3 times the person’s salary; a $50K person will cost somewhere around $100K to $150K.  Why is this true?  What can we do about it?

There are two key factors that create poor hiring decisions:

Ø  Not having a hiring process that is designed to identify good candidates and screen out people that should not be hired.

Ø  Most hiring managers hire with such little frequency they have insufficient practice working through the process, using assessment tools effectively and utilizing excellent interviewing techniques and methods.

I help managers in the hiring process to overcome the above impediments.  Also, I add additional elements that are proven best practices that increase the probability of making good hiring decisions to help ensure new hires are successful.

The hiring process is designed to be a screen to ensure only talented and capable people make it through. 

A simple model: