Inspiration

So, why do you put so much emphasis on people? I wrote a blog post 2 years ago, entitled: The Great Departure – A Recruiter’s Guide To Retaining Your Best Talent (read it here – https://talentsearchpartnersinc.com/the-great-departure-a-recruiters-guide-to-retaining-your-best-talent/) That post did very well, and the feedback supported that… In it, I discussed the 6 areas where leadership has failed, and it resonated with readers… One of the benefits of serving under a poor leader is you get to eye witness everything they are doing wrong, which allows you to not repeat those mistakes… It pained me to watch good people leave that office… Rather than accept the blame for the revolving door that existed, my then boss blamed those who left, highlighting their weaknesses, rather than taking ownership… I did what I could to save what was a sinking ship, but the damage was irreparable, and he was delusional… So, why do you care so much about people and good leadership? Because, no matter how much you’ve made financially or how large your office is, how you treat people will ultimately determine your success & longevity… He spent money on “things” to keep the office running, but he treated people like replaceable resources, and not assets… The office eventually closed. He said very little, but it was the way he treated us that scarred the most… It would’ve been an easier pill to swallow if he had yelled, heaved chairs across the office, put holes in the walls, or kicked the water cooler. But it was his silence that pierced. It made you feel like you didn’t exist. Almost like you were being done a favour… It felt like he kept a life vest in his office, and everyone else was vulnerable… I vowed to never make another human feel like that; not on my watch… He ended up alone, and that came as no surprise. Sad, but not surprising. The best amongst us know how to pull the best out of people. They leverage technology, resources, business intelligence, etc., but they never lose sight of the human factor… The way you make people feel can either build up or tear down. My role in recruitment has afforded me the privilege of working with some great people. I am directly tied to an organization’s growth by aligning them with talent, and with that comes great responsibility… As such, I will not misrepresent an opportunity to a candidate… The people who were hired to work for my former manager were deceived, quickly realizing that the man they interviewed with, was not the same man they encountered 6 months into the role. The honeymoon phase was short-lived, and the list of casualties kept growing. The tipping point for me was his inability to see his own errors. In that state, he was incapable of changing, and my days in that office were numbered after that conversation… Leadership is a responsibility. It’s not a right, and it’s nothing to boast about… If you are leading a team of 1 or 30, it’s a responsibility, and how you make people feel will monetize every time… You won’t need to convince them to go the extra mile. They will go willingly because they know that you will secure their life-vest before you tend to your own… I know they say that you must first put the oxygen mask on yourself during an aviation emergency, but real leaders put others first… This is your competitive advantage.

As a newly hired business leader within an organization, the first 6 to 18 months should be a learning period. You should be spending the majority of your time getting to learn the company, your team, the culture, & your customers. Avoid making any major decisions during this time until you’ve had a chance to survey the landscape of this organization – this requires patience. As a leader, you’ve become a steward of the organization’s assets, primarily its people. Unless you were hired with a specific mandate with an aggressive timeline to achieve a set of goals, the agenda should be to understand the business and forge alliances within your team. This does not happen on your first day. For any leader who is going through the interview process, one of your primary questions to the CEO or President of a company should be: What is your vision for this position within the first year? If that goal is cost-cutting centric for instance, then I’d question that. There’s a lot that you don’t know about the company and won’t know until the completion of your first year, in some cases longer. You may discover through your own exploration that there are issues that require a different approach that will ultimately lead to the same end goal. One of my most tragic placements came with a company that I had served for several years. I built a great relationship with one of their key executives and became a trusted partner for him in the development of his engineering team. Through that relationship, I was able to break into other areas of the business, culminating in a conversation with the CEO to help him find a new VP of Operations. I sifted the marketplace to find someone who had served in a similar capacity in his previous role. He was young, energetic, communicated well, had great references, and he genuinely hit it off with the team. He was hired! Shortly thereafter however, things took a weird turn… Hidden within his briefcase was a sledgehammer (not a literal one) and he wasn’t timid about using it. He made his primary agenda to find and expose problems, rather than formulating solutions. He alienated members of the leadership team, rather than leaning on their expertise and experience to understand the business and its direction. Granted, there were issues within the company, but as a new leader and someone who had been hired to drive new processes and procedures, his first course of action should’ve been to get to know the people by watching what they do and learning how they do it. Along that growth path, some people will be weeded out, but that should be handled delicately, not with a shotgun as one of the team members shared. He was ultimately fired by the CEO, and his departure came as a sigh relief to those within the organization. Lessons for newly hired leaders…

My walk last night did little to solve my value conundrum. The dog feces left along my path certainly didn’t help the situation… I’m struggling with value… Every recruiter pitches their value the same… “a huge database of resumes” “years recruiting in your industry” “a team of recruiters who will be dedicated to your roles” “flexible fees” …a great list of value cliches, but this is not real value because it doesn’t address the needs of the end user… Recruiters are in over-supply and the demand for talent is at an all time high. There is a recruiter on every street corner and the trail of scarred executives runs deep… I’ve encountered executives within companies who would rather struggle to fill positions through their own efforts than work with “another recruiter.” Hard to blame them… 3-months, 6-months, 9-months, a year goes by, and the position still hasn’t been filled… If recruiters are in over-abundance with demand for talent running at the same pace, then why haven’t these two variables been able to marry each other at this equilibrium point… If there are so many of us and an equal number of roles to be filled, then why are executives reluctant to sign on that dotted line to engage that recruiter? Why would they rather deal with the lost revenue and frustration of having positions go unfilled for quarters… I believe the issue lies in quality, not supply… Recruiters for years have over-promised and under-delivered. They talk a big game but fail to show up when it counts. This has happened so many times over the years that companies have caught on and would rather forgo the trauma of another failed attempt to work with a recruiter… The missing link in this relationship has nothing to do with statistics and experience. It has everything to do with doing what you said you would do… Executives are tired of being taken on a roller coaster ride. For most, the thrill no longer exists, and they are exiting the ride in droves… Most executives in my opinion could live with the result of a failed attempt to fill their position if recruiters demonstrated traits of resilience and integrity… We don’t need another recruitment agency. These days anyone with Wi-Fi and a cell phone plan can be a recruiter… What we need are professionals who understand the importance of what they do and how they can drive an economy forward. The key is to serve, not extract, with the end goal of facilitating lasting partnerships. This remains the greatest stumbling block within the recruitment process… I don’t mind paying for a service (even overpaying) if I believe there will be a true exchange of value & a commitment to quality. The reason why there is so much negotiation is because of a misunderstanding of how both sides benefit in this equation.