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Raising the Bar on Recruiting
By Steve Sjogren | February 22, 2006
One of the difficult points that boggles the visionary leaders of most organizations is “How in the world do I find great people to join my efforts to change the world?” Did you catch that not-so-subtle phrasing. It’s no longer, “Work here…” It’s no longer “Hire people…” Only untalented people are looking for a job. The ones you want are out for something much higher than that. Perhaps you’ve tried traditional approaches – headhunters, Monster.com, etc. Not only are those approaches costly, but in my experience, they very often don’t pay off in the long run.
As the name of this blogging-website implies, part of my secret mission is to get you as a leader to catch the spirit of “going out” as a powerful success principle that has worked over and over again in my tenure as a leader. Those who go out “among the people,” who get out from hiding behind their gigantic desks and their computer screens, find that the fruit it usually “out there.” In my 20 years at my last leadership position, I always had an office, but in a typical month I spent no more than 4 hours there. But I worked often 100 hours a week. How does that work you ask? I was a regular at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, Paneras, etc. Fruit usually doesn’t come to you – you usually have to go find it.
I would dare say that one of the overwhelming success principles of those throughout the past several decades in virtually any sector of leadership have had as a large part of their leadership golf bag, a fluency at engaging people. To put it another way, engagers, bringers, includers, audacious extroverts find the abundant fruit. If these qualities are not in your personality mix that’s okay. You can change! But very very few introverts go very far in the world of leadership – that I can assure you of.
So how do you find high quality, high capacity team members who will capture your vision for making a dent in the world?
1. People aren’t so much looking for a paycheck as they are looking to make a difference with their lives. At the deepest level of the human heart, no matter what they believe religiously, no matter what family they have been raised in, no matter what their system of values may be, EVERYONE seeks to make a difference above all else with their life. Of course, we all have to pay our bills. But I have seen remarkable examples of people walk away from much higher paying jobs in the hope of making a difference with their lives – many dozens of times as a leader. Clarify your vision. Repeat your vision again and again and again. If you need wordsmithing help with your vision, email me – if I have time I will see what I can do to scan over what you have put together and fire my suggestions back to you.
2. Constantly have your “radar” set to the “on” position. In other words, you are always in the recruiting mode – always! In my last organization, which ultimately grew to over 7,000, I gathered an amazing array of really world class leaders from all over the globe. I did this by constantly speaking about my vision to impact the world – literally the world. And to a large degree with many of my seminal ideas on leadership and becoming an outward person, that has been accomplished. If you put my name into Google, several hundred thousand hits will pop up. People want to join up with something that is happening – something that is going somewhere. But you’ve got to constantly repeat your vision and you have to be on the look out for high quality people. As you seek, so you shall find!
3. You tend to attract what you already have going for you. In some cases of leaders who are reading this, you might need to have a “blessed reduction” before you can begin to build a winning team that is worth joining. As painful as it is to let go of people, in the name of going forward with quality and gusto and pursuing the dream that is implanted in your heart, make those hard decisions. Pray for courage and proceed with generosity as you deal with people. You will be glad you did it in the long run. If you deal harshly with those who are leaving your organization, your behavior will come back to bite you in the tail.
4. I make it a practice to listen for what I call “Inspired ideas.” I spend 15-30 minutes a day slowing down my inner metronome from my usual 120 beats per minute to just 20 beats. During this time I write in my MacJournal software thoughts that come to me. Not all of them are in the category of “inspired ideas” but many are. Each day I get numbers of these. I also carry a digital recorder at all times because I often get inspired ideas at times when I am walking or driving for example. In the name of good stewardship, I dare not miss even one good idea, so I speak onto my recorder and later transfer that to my laptop.
Go forward with enthusiasm! Take risks! Stop the “Ready, Aim, Ready, Aim…” syndrome. Go for it! Be a person of action. God and the very powers of the universe will bless and undergird your propensity for action. See you tomorrow…
Topics: Leadership |
