I’ll be off next week, so this is my last posting until Monday, August 1st.
Yesterday, we left off with this proposition:
*** Every assessment MUST be about competition, and can be reduced to the single question: CAN WE WIN? ***
Consider the following tactical gold that jumps right out of the proposition above. Yes, of course you can work with any Human Resources department, as much as you wish…IF…if the objective for victory is actually shared and truly unites your efforts. Those HR departments that actually care about the performance based competitive advantages the firm wins by procuring the best talent, they’re pure gems. What distinguishes such outstanding HR pros? They see that the company is in business to make money, and to win. Thus, they see themselves as part of the stewardship of the firm on its path to that victory and they actually understand the costs involved in building a profitable ROI. No, they may not think like accountants, or ever look for any form of formal ROI. But, they absolutely know and understand the powers that a third party independent recruiter brings to the table, uniquely, and they understand that this cost is one of the most profitable investments the firm can possibly make.
They’re rare, too.
So, what typically happens? Why, you do NOT follow the dictates of the rule above, and you tend NOT to analyze the situation from a competitive perspective. You surrender to such horrible, foolish dictates as not being allowed to speak to the hiring manager. If you read the rule above, if you ask the question “can we win?”, how can you possibly EVER allow yourself to work with the kind of HR people who intrude between you and the process of the successful placement? The answer is that you are blinding yourself to the fact that for such HR people, YOU are the competition and they’re in this to defeat YOU! They want and need to obstruct you, and they must maintain control at all costs. If you surrender to this, then you’re failing to think or assess by the law of competition.
Consider this question again, deeper still: CAN WE WIN?
Gary and Kent sought help with the word “we” in this question. I’ll repeat, EVERY SINGLE PERSON YOU SPEAK TO, REGARDLESS OF THEIR POSITION, SHOULD BE THE OTHER PERSON IN THE WORD “WE.”
Every single call you make, every single action you take, every single judgment you complete, every one of them must be driven by this one question. To be painfully clear, “we” in this case is broken all the way down to just two people. You’re one; the other person is WHOMEVER you’re speaking to. We’re absolutely at one of the most fundamental laws of the recruiting practice. If it is not driven by the search for victory, it is off track. If you forget, or fail, or just don’t think this way, then you’ve not attained what I might call “critical mass” in your recruiting practice.
We’ve worked on the principle that you can only execute what you understand. Here, we have a similar principle:
YOU CAN ONLY WIN WHAT YOU VISUALIZE…AS A BLACK AND WHITE VICTORY…FIRST.
Forget recruiting. Imagine you’re on a professional football team. Imagine you’ve made it into the Super Bowl. Do you not see the victory in your mind’s eye, instantly? Of course you do. You’re not just there for the ring. You’re there to win.
Every single call, every single action you engage as a recruiter is no different. You must know the victory you’re working toward.
Let me say it this way. You are not to work mindlessly, but rather mindfully. Minding your business quite literally means asking the question “can we win?” over every single encounter or endeavor.
I hope you already know this. But, if there’s any doubt, be clear; you’ll never find a more robust law of performance, ever.
[originally posted July 21, 2011 at my Recruiting Tactics & Strategy LinkedIn Discussion Group]
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