Employment Do’s and Don’ts
Employment Do’s and Don’ts 4 Comments
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As unfortunate as it is, most working people seem to fall in love with themselves instead of falling in love with their job, clients, customers, and bosses. In this one fact these people have severely crippled themselves. Your entire career will change when you conceive of your career not as benefiting you alone, but as enhancing the lives of your clients, customers, and bosses.
No one hires you because they want you to make a lot of money. No one hires you because they want you to feel important. No one hires you because they are concerned about your welfare more than their own. Instead, you are hired—and will always be hired—based on your ability to solve other people’s problems and provide a service. The more you understand this simple concept, the more your career and life will begin to change for the better.
A few years ago, I went to dinner with my wife and an attorney she had placed at a major U.S. law firm. The attorney had graduated from an Ivy League law school a few years ago, and was making something like $200,000 a year. One Friday night he called my wife and asked to meet with her to discuss his career over dinner. Since I started my career as a legal recruiter, my wife brought me along to the meeting.
We met at a very nice restaurant where the meal was going to take about two hours. I generally enjoy these sorts of meetings because it gives me a chance to offer advice to attorneys and listen to their concerns. Unlike most recruiters, at meetings like this I generally try to talk attorneys into staying at their law firms because often the concerns they have are trivial. This was again the case.
After a few pleasantries and ordering appetizers, my wife asked the attorney how things were going at his current law firm. The economy was very bad at the time and the law firm had been aggressively laying off associates and other staff. Given that this attorney had such stellar credentials, I doubted that he would be laid off—but I waited for the story to develop.
The attorney sighed and stated that things were horrible at the law firm. The work was good and there was plenty of it. He liked the people he was working for very much. However, he said he was a graduate of a top law school and yet, as a cost-saving measure, the firm had recently started having its attorneys park at a cheaper parking garage across the street from the law firm’s office. This required an additional two minutes of walking to get to the elevator bay in the law firm’s building.
The law firm was still paying for the attorneys’ parking. They just were not paying for premium spots in the parking lot inside the building.
”I hear they are only saving $60 a month making us park there!” the attorney said. ”It is outrageous and it is clear to me that this is a law firm that does not respect its attorneys.”
The attorney was obviously upset about this. In fact, he seemed to be downright livid. Not paying for premium parking was an insult to his pedigree and him personally. It was clear he was going to have to leave.
Against my better judgment, I decided to challenge him.
”The firm has around 300 people in the office,” I said. ”That means they are saving $18,000 a month, or $216,000 a year. Maybe they are making everyone park there in order to save your job. That’s about what you make, right?”
My wife kicked me under the table. It was clear my comments were not going to endear me to this attorney. I decided I had better keep quiet the rest of the dinner—and I did for the most part.
It was difficult keeping quiet, however. The majority of the conversation came back to this stupid parking issue. It seemed the attorney actually might leave his job over this minor inconvenience.
While this story sounds pretty outrageous, I have seen this sort of thing many times. I have seen it with attorneys, of course, and with just about every possible type of employee out there. Most of the people I have discussed these complaints with refer to it as a ”sense of entitlement.” I agree that is part of the problem; however, I believe the real issue is not a sense of entitlement. It is more serious. It is a lack of connection with the work and the fact that these people are not in love with their work, their clients, or their bosses. Instead, they are in love with their own egos.
When two people are falling in love, they are focused on the other person and his or her strengths. They are focused on what is good about the person, what is special and unique, overlooking any faults. They want to help the other person in any way they can. They might even die for the other person. No matter what, they are always very concerned with how the other person is doing. They will ponder the other person throughout the day and think of ways to strengthen the relationship.
Your relationship with your job and work should be one of love. You should treat your work the way you would a new boyfriend or girlfriend. Then communicate that love in your interviews, in your day-to-day work, and throughout every aspect of your job.
Most people, when they are interviewing, think ”What do I have to say to get hired?”
Most people, when they are trying to get a raise, think ”What do I have to say to get a raise?”
Instead of thinking this way, you should instead be saying, ”What benefit do I have to show I can create? How can I give more value?”
This is a completely different way of thinking about your job and interviewing, and it is the sort of thinking that can change your life. When you think this way, you are creating a mission for your career. A mission brings purpose and meaning to your work. It is no longer just a job. It is far more important than that. And it can revolutionize the success you find in your career. This is what it means to fall in love with your career.
I want you to get more raises, get more job offers, get more prominence, make more money, and have a more fulfilling life. You will never have any of this until you fall in love with your job, your clients, your customers, and bosses. You need to love what you do and who you do it for.
See yourself as someone who creates value and contributes to the betterment of your company, your clients, your customers, and your bosses. Realize your importance in everything you do and be a cheerleader for your job.
I watch true-life detective investigative shows on television all the time—shows like Cold Case Files, Forensic Files, and The Investigators. One of the most amazing things about these shows is that the families of the murder suspects are always in court supporting the person and then trying to get them out of jail. In the substantial majority of these shows the family is right there with the murderer all through the trial, and even after the conviction, the family still supports the person.
Most people instinctively support those they love—even irrespective of logic. It may not make a lot of sense, but it is true. You should apply this to your job: fall in love with your job and what you do with a profound level of blind faith. This will pay massive rewards.
One of the more inspiring stories to me is that of a recruiter I once hired who came directly from a law firm. During the interview, the recruiter asked tons of difficult questions before agreeing to take the job. Later, the recruiter told me that she had asked so many difficult questions because she was deciding whether or not this was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
When the recruiter started with our company, she said to me, ”You are obviously very successful at this. I am just going to do whatever you tell me to do in this job and see what happens.”
The recruiter ended up being incredibly successful at the job and still is. The recruiter fell in love with the work and did not get distracted. Most people get distracted. They start something and decide they do not like it and try another type of job. Many people move through jobs their entire careers—just like many people move through a series of relationships with superficial connections most of their lives. If you are going to succeed at love, at work, at anything—you need to fall in love with it and commit.
If you have a purpose, then you can move forward without any hesitation. You will get a level of impact and depth that most people never achieve.
Almost no company, boss, customer, or client wants to be average. When people realize that you are in love with your work, that you have depth and are not content with giving them an average performance, getting them an average result, and providing an average amount of service, everything will begin to change for you.
Your employers and potential employers need to realize that you do not want them to be average. You want to take them farther and give them greater benefits and yield. As soon as people realize this you will get more job offers, earn more raises, and experience great improvement in your career.
If you are obsessed with finding ways you can bring the people you work for more benefit and empathize with them, question and look for ways you can bring them this value, you will go farther than you ever believed you could.
Falling in love with your job and finding out what people want is very simple on the surface—but it can be very difficult to truly understand. When I counsel job seekers and others, the advice I give often makes them a little bit angry. I tell them, do not worry about yourself. Do not worry about parking benefits. Do not worry about anything but being a champion for what would be in the best interest of your company, profession, clients, and customers.
Take yourself out of the equation and focus, instead, on the work you do. Find out how you can provide greater benefit. Your purpose is to give your clients, customers, and others a greater outcome in their lives. You need to transform yourself and the way you are doing things. Subordinate what you want for yourself and, instead, bring your focus to others. Make this your mission.
A good proportion of people out there are not happy with what they are doing. They do not feel fulfilled in their jobs and instead they focus on trivial things. They lack passion and purpose. They do not feel a connection or love with their work. You can only get this—and so much more—when you fall in love with what you are doing and put the needs of others first.
THE LESSON
You must find a job about which you are passionate, perform it with dedication, and make sure this dedication is visible to those around you. When you devote yourself to a job that you love, you open the doors for greater happiness and fulfillment in your career and life. Employers and colleagues notice those who demonstrate passion for their jobs; they naturally gravitate towards these types of people, and avoid those who take a more perfunctory approach to their work.
Read More About You Should Put Away Your Cell Phone in the Office:
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is the Founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter himself. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in a search and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company LawCrossing has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive that gets results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities that its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.
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Do not be distracted by your insecurities and doubts, or you will never achieve success because you will not allow it to happen. Focus only on the message about your skills and capabilities. Identify your goals and create a gameplan, and fill your mind with positive and hopeful messages that will drive you towards said goal.
In this article Harrison explains how you can ensure success in your career by externalizing your opponents. Your job is like a game; if you work hard, play by the rules of the company and are seen as part of the team you will be viewed as a valuable player for the company. The most significant part of any game is the presence of an opponent. Don’t look for an opponent among your co-workers. Never speak negatively of your team members. Instead, concentrate on the external opponents. External opponents bring you and the team closer as you work towards a common goal. In order for you and your company to succeed it is important to have an external opponent. Harrison advises people to consistently work hard and not participate in the politics. This is a sure way to score big in your career.
In this article Harrison discusses how people who stand for something always do better than those who do not. Companies who stand for something always do better than companies who do not. The most successful companies not only stand for something, but they are completely consistent with their core principles. This is what keeps them going and this is what makes them successful. One of the largest problems that people have in their careers is when they diverge from what they are good at. When you do not stand for something, you divert from your true strength. Everything begins to crumble and slowly fall apart when you are not doing something that you are really good at. The biggest success comes when you stand for something and are good at it.
Companies necessarily seek to employ positive, forward-minded people. A firm’s success depends on their employees, and they seek people who will enhance them rather than merely contribute to the bottom line. People with positive natures, who contribute to a healthy social environment, prove essential to the growth and success of their employers.
In this article Harrison discusses that the meaning you give to things will control the quality of your life. How we feel about ourselves is all due to what we tell ourselves certain things will mean. The meaning you give things is crucial for your career success. You need to choose meanings that make you stronger. You need to ensure you interpret things in a way that serves you and does not hurt you. You need to reach your full potential. Don’t classify yourself as someone who is not fit to succeed at the level at which you’re capable. You need to take charge of your mind to have the career and the life that you deserve.
In this article Harrison discusses the importance of ‘energy’ over technical skills. When people are hiring you they are purchasing your “energy” more than they are purchasing your technical skills. They are interested in your ability to influence the world around you through your energy. When you are marketing yourself and seeking a job, or working in a job, there are essentially two things you are marketing. You are marketing your technical skills, but more importantly you are marketing an intangible sort of energy. The most successful people have mastered the art of projecting positive energy. The better your energy, the more employable you will be and the farther you will go.
You can never become too comfortable if you wish to be successful. Your success will largely depend on your ability to become dissatisfied with your current position. Successful people are never satisfied with the status quo, and constantly push beyond their comfort zone. When do you this and succeed, you set a new standard for normality in your life. Be continually dissatisfied, and always pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.
Resourcefulness can make you better at everything you do, and separates the truly extraordinary people from the general herd. Do everything within your power to be resourceful in your job search, life, and career to give yourself the best possible chance of achieving your goals, and learn how to employ the resources currently at your disposal for maximum impact.
The most successful people in the world share the common characteristic of sharing, or concentrating on the value that they give back to others rather than on their own growth and profit. Focusing on yourself never leads to long-term success, but leads instead to unhappiness as well as emotional and financial challenges. Your greatest consideration, therefore, should be how you can contribute to others, and how your actions can impact their lives.
The best way to attain your goal is through small, incremental steps on which you can build. Establish a routine, and make sure you are consistently working towards some kind of goal. Start small, and always build upon what you have done before. Most people fail to achieve their goals because they believe everything should happen quickly and at the same time, instead of progressively building upon their past achievements.
Make sure that you are involved in groups that focus on positive things. Your success in life depends on your ability to focus on the outcomes you want, and the focus of the groups with which you associate will in turn shape your own focus. You must endeavor to always choose groups with a positive focus.
Everything you do is a form of preparation for your job interviews, as you are always under some form of scrutiny. The best employees can always spot other good employees, and you cannot “fake it”; merely doing a good job in your work is a form of interview preparation. Always put your all into your work, therefore, even if you do not have long-term plans to remain at your current employment. Switch jobs as infrequently as possible. The time to prepare for a job search is before you even realize that you need to do so.
Your greatest successes will come from some of the smallest actions in terms of meeting people. You will cause a “stacking effect” the more you meet and connect with people; conversely, people cannot connect with you when you are withdrawn and nothing will happen. You must do everything in your power to connect with as many people as possible.
When myriad candidates are applying to limited positions, practicing unusual tactics in your job hunt will prove far more helpful than following the established routine and waiting for positions to come to you. Much like in military strategy, well-planned and unconventional moves can help you conquer your goals without suffering significant losses. You can land an excellent position by focusing on companies’ needs, rather than depending on job and recruiting advertisements.
You can change your life forever by harnessing the power of persistence. Think about the people in your life, and whether they empower you or hinder you in achieving your goals. You must win at all costs, and persist until you succeed.
You need to provide people what they want, otherwise you will not have a job. Although they might not always be the most desirable kinds of jobs, certain jobs always exist because they provide services that people will always require. The only secret to continual employment is to provide a service that people always need; if you do this, and nothing else, you will always find yourself employed. Give people what they want.
Your ability to help people will determine the extent of your success; the more powerful and effective your help, the greater rewards you will receive. One of the rarest and most profound achievements is to follow through on your goals and create a paradigm-shifting idea. The more revolutionary your work, the more people you will affect and the more memorable of a career you will have.
You will greatly benefit your career by helping and promoting your company’s expansion. A common belief is that expansion is fundamentally positive, and a lack of expansion is fundamentally negative. You must be on the side of expansion rather than contraction in every area of your life. All employers seek people who will help them expand, and the more your ability to contribute to this expansion will provide you increased job security and a greater likelihood of being hired.
The ability to fit into your work environment is among the most important parts of obtaining and retaining a job, even more so than your skill level. Fitting in means nothing more than being comfortable in one’s work environment, and making others similarly comfortable. Employers want to hire people who will embrace their approach to business and the world on physical and moral levels, so you must strive to fit in with their worldview.
Focus on what you are doing, not what others around you are doing. There are people to take action towards their goals, and then there people who sit on the sidelines and comment on the first group of people. People who are mostly interested in gossip and watching others usually lack the confidence and determination to take action themselves. The most successful people go account and accomplish things rather than sit back and watch others make things happen.
In this article, Harrison advises you to live the lives you wish to have, do the jobs you want to do, and basically live your dreams to your best possible ability. Life is fleeting and no one knows what tomorrow holds. So Harrison puts forward certain questions – when are you going to start living the life you want and when are you going to take charge of your life. The time to have the career you want is right now, not tomorrow, and not later. You need to take charge of your career and life and no one else is going to do it for you. Your entire life and the quality of it is a product of your decisions. You can have, do, or be anything you want. Do not create alibis for making comprises in life. What separates the best and the happiest people is the ability to stop to making excuses and Harrison wants you to be this person.
Anyone can be up when things are going well, but the real challenge comes when things are not. Do not look at problems, which are inevitable for any person or business, in a negative light; think of them instead as challenges, lessons, or opportunities. There is a silver lining to be found in every problem, and finding that silver lining will enable you to grow.
Understanding what you do for a living is very important for your career. You should understand the generality of your specific profession. You and your career are a product. You need to know where and how to market yourself in the best way possible. You need to be relevant and understand the skills you are offering. Being a relevant product is essential for your success. It’s easy to be relevant when you understand what you are doing and what purpose you serve. Being relevant is more than just getting a job. Being relevant also relates to serving the employers with the skills they need. You need to understand your market and what your customers want. This is the way to stay employed, and it is also the means to continual improvement.
Things will not always go the way that you want them to go, so you must not be discouraged by adversity in your job hunt. When you persist and consistently put forth your best effort, things are much more likely to go in your favor. Also, you must resist others’ efforts to undermine your efforts and potential; focus instead on doing everything in your power to fight on and complete the task at hand.
Having a goal or vision will propel you towards greater career success and happiness. Without a purpose, you will find yourself depressed and ultimately fail to achieve your goals. Do not subscribe to the unrealistic problem that you should never have problems, but instead regard problems as part of your overall growth strategy.
Don’t ever give up, and make the most of the tools at your disposal. Take chances and invest in your best skills, and persist in the face of unfortunate events. Have faith in your considerable work and capabilities, and use them to create value for others.
In this article Harrison discusses what a good hiring manager should look for. Many people who make hiring decisions really do not know what they are doing. In fact, they often make mistakes when hiring. They put too much emphasis on skills and experience. But the single most important aspect of hiring is evaluating the person’s unique outlook on the world. If the person does not have a positive outlook on the world, he/she will bring down the morale of the other workers. The person will harm the company through the negative outlook. The key to success is having the power to stick it out in jobs and finding happiness wherever you are. Hiring people who do good work and are always able to find happiness should be the number one objective of hiring managers.
To reach the goals to which you aspire, you must compare yourself with people superior to you for motivation. Most people prefer to look at life the way they wish it to be, rather than as it truly is. Move out of your comfort zones and face reality. Don’t seek out or compare yourself with the average people around you, as doing so will only mire you in mediocrity rather than push you forward.
You can better market yourself by taking a stand against something. Peoples’ personal beliefs, including the things with which they do not agree, define who they are as people. Standing against something differentiates you from the crowd; when done in the correct manner, without disrespecting others’ opinions, such a stance can help you land your dream job.
Maintaining a routine in both life and work is important to success. Not only do you need to establish a routine, you must make that routine demanding and push yourself to the limit. Budget a certain amount of time each week for networking, applying to jobs, brushing up your interview skills, and following up with employers. Such consistent effort on a daily basis will make a huge difference to your career success.
A recommendation from a powerful person can make a huge difference in your job search; a reference from an influential person makes a tremendous difference to a prospective employer, and thus can be a major advantage for you. When an important person whom the company trusts recommends you, you instantly qualify for positions that may previously have been unattainable. Make the absolute most of your connections with the powerful people in your life, because doing so can instantaneously change your career and life.
You must plant seeds in the minds of others, so that they will be more likely than otherwise to think of you when a future need arises. In planting seeds, you are making people aware of what you have to offer; you must make sure that you are ever present in the minds of your potential employers. Planting seeds is the most effective way to generate top-of-mind awareness, and ensure that the right people remember you at the appropriate time.
Recent immigrants exemplify the benefits of willpower, passion, and excitement in the way that they work so much harder for their goals than the people who have been here for most or all of their lives. Like most Americans, you need to rekindle the spirit of your immigrant ancestors and become hungry for what you want. The entrepreneurial spirit that brought people to America has often faded over time; adopt the fire and work ethic of new immigrants in order to achieve your goals.
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Dear Harrison,
Your essays show a rare level of maturity, insight and professionalism that is missing too often from the business of law. Thanks for sharing them.
Oh Wow..I don’t even have a business but I feel etcaxly the same at times. Photography becomes overwhelming and I want to cry because I love it so much but it is letting me down (or I am letting myself down) and I don’t know which way to go. Sometimes we just need a break and we need time to get back on our feet. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We all go through tough times, but most important thing is to keep pushing and to keep growing. Your work is amazing and you don’t need words, your photographs speak for themselves. I always look forward to seeing your new work and your blog is one of my favorites. Have fun in Atlanta.
HARRISON BARNES DAILY ADVICE COLUMN ENTITLED “PARKING BENEFITS AND FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOUR JOB” SAID IT JUST THE RIGHT WAY WITH THE RIGHT WORDS AND REALLY BROUGHT IT HOME FOR ME — WHAT A FOOL I HAVE BEEN, BUT I AM READY TO MAKE SOME CHANGES
I have created millions of dollars in value. The problem I have is that everyone took all the value that I created. How do I capture back all of my value in terms of compensation? My capital created millions of dollars in value for the area. Bullies hurt my research coordinators and then took it. I am one of the top value creators, and I should have the best parking spot in the company. I deserve the best because I am the best and I am the creator. I loved my job so much that one year I spent my entire income back invested in my research projects and conferences. From a proportional
perspective, I am the best in the entire company. The problem is that I was so other oriented that my needs were not met when other people bullied me, and the consequence of the bad decision to hire a horrible research administrator is that she hurt me and my ability to create value. I could have created much more at a higher level if they had not hired the bully, so the company lost value and revenues when people bullied me too much. If I had received much more of the value I created in terms of compensation, I could have used that to create even more value.