Advancement
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Several years ago, I was in the midst of opening up various legal recruiting offices around the United States. In my sheer enthusiasm for the business, I would bring new recruiters from around the country to Los Angeles and have them live with me for several months while training them in my method of recruiting. The new recruiters would sit in my office and I would observe them recruiting and critique their performance. I would have dinner with them each night and discuss recruiting as well.
While I am not good at a lot of things, I believe I am good at recruiting. I love the business and have a natural talent for it. That is one reason I took the practice of recruiting and the training involved so seriously. Some recruiters lived with my wife and me for up to four months while being trained.
Recruiters would generally start the job with all sorts of questions about fundamentals.
I would happily share and teach all of this information; however, in the weeks and months that I would train each new recruiter, I really was never all that concerned with fundamentals. For example, I knew that the recruiters would learn about various law firms in due course. I knew that I could teach them how to present candidates to law firms most effectively.
What I was most concerned with was something far deeper and more significant. There was one thing that I knew would either make or break these recruiters and determine whether they succeeded. By the time each recruiter was done being trained, I knew and could tell many, many things. I knew if they would succeed at the job. I knew if they would last at the job. What I knew all came down to one thing:
Whether the person believed the job was about them – or was about others. The more the recruiter truly believed the job was about others, the better they did.
“None of this is about you,” I would always tell people. “It is 100% about others and has nothing to do with you.”
Less than 30% of all the recruiters I’ve hired, worked on, and trained ever “got” this. A few people understood this naturally (most do not). My training would generally hit the new recruiters with this message from multiple directions and in unexpected ways. I might have them read self-improvement books where this was an underlying (but not direct) message. Generally, sometime during the final week or so of the training, I would try to deliver them this message in a serious way. I might bring it up in the evening while we were sitting by a fire and there were no interruptions. I felt the message needed to be taken in, pondered, and slept on. The reason for this was that I felt the message was incredibly important and something that needed to be absorbed and fully understood.
In fact, I felt the message was the most important career lesson the person would ever receive.
When recruiters “got” this message, their career and life changed. They would very quickly start doing exceptionally well and making many placements. They would be referred to as others. Their entire career would just get fired up in a real hurry. People who understood and practiced this mantra almost universally did very well.
The power of this message was so strong that two recruiters working together in the same office might have results that were 180 degrees different. One recruiter might have fifteen people interviewing at one time and be making placements at a rapid clip. Another recruiter might be lucky to have anything going on at all—despite having access to the same resources as the other recruiter.
It is all about the other person and never about you.
What does it mean when I say people believe the job is about them? It means people are focused on their needs and wants. They focus on things like.
People who are focused on themselves spend a lot of time worrying and thinking about stuff like this. In fact, they generally spend just as much time thinking about these sorts of things as they spend thinking about their jobs and the people they are serving. When someone is focused on things that have nothing to do with serving the people they are working for, they get predictable results.
When a job is not about you, everything changes. If a job is not for you:
The world provides rewards (money, status, and so forth) in direct proportion to the value you provide. You will simply provide more value to others when you are focused on giving and concerned about the welfare of those you are working for.
There are essentially three types of people and businesses out there: Those that over deliver, those that deliver what is expected, and those that under deliver. People who over deliver generally believe the job is about others. People who under deliver generally believe the job is just about them.
In your current and past jobs, you certainly have been promoted, let go, or remained stagnant based on whether you over or under delivered. In terms of the businesses you frequent and like, the odds are very good that you are most comfortable with those which over deliver. Your personal success, like the success of most businesses, comes down to whether you over or under deliver.
In my job, I speak with people who are unemployed and have lost jobs all the time. I also speak with people who are incredibly successful all the time.
The laws associated with making money, getting ahead, and being successful – all really do come down to over and under delivery. Most people who believe that a job is about others, over deliver. Most people who believe the job is about themselves, under deliver. Do more than expected, work harder, give more, and you will simply do better in life. There’s really no question about it.
In your career, one of the most important things you can do is to get a reputation for over delivering as opposed to under delivering. Everything in your career and life—and how you will be known–generally comes down to whether you over deliver. You need to be focused on what other people want and need. Being focused on the needs of others and not yourself is crucial in any pursuit.
I love reading biographies of incredibly successful people. I like doing this because studying the lives of successful people teaches me lessons that I can teach others about their own careers. Most biographies start out in the person’s childhood and then go from there. One of the most interesting parts of these biographies is reading about the work ethic of the people. The great successes are always are people who over deliver and are concerned about others. They can see what other people want and could use and make this a priority.
I also love reading stories about successful companies. Successful companies also get the reputation for being focused on others and anticipating others’ wants and needs.
To truly reach your potential, you need to over deliver–be focused on others and not yourself.
THE LESSON
You are rewarded in direct proportion to the value that you deliver, meaning that you have to deliver in order to reach your full potential. You will provide more value to others when you are focused on giving. People who under-deliver view their jobs as being primarily about them, while those who over-deliver see their jobs as being about others. Strive to develop a reputation for delivering rather than under-delivering.
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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Tagged: apply for a job, attorney jobs, attorney search, career advice, career lesson, good at recruiting, job blog | a harrison barnes, job markets, job search, legal career, legal jobs, legal profession, legal recruiting, new jobs
Job Market
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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.
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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.
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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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In this article Harrison talks about releasing the lack that you feel, in order to reach your full potential. If a sense of lack dominates your thinking, it will affect your interaction with the world and how the world sees you. There are many areas of your life where you are coming from a position of lack. Your ability to release this lack and go forward with your life can create a tremendous sense of peace and more natural accomplishments in your world. The amount of lack that people see out there is profound and it has a massive impact on their lives. According to Harrison, the most successful people in the world see the world as a place of opportunity and not lack.
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In this article Harrison discusses how persistent pursuit of something you believe in, against all obstacles, is one of the most important keys to success. So many of us just decide at some point not to push through and not to keep going even when a little bit of extra effort would push us through. The secret to being incredibly good at everything is pushing through and getting better and better when others around you are quitting. Even while hiring, employers want experts and people who are the best at what they are doing–they do not want dabblers. They want to hire the person who is incredibly committed to a job and has persisted against odds in one direction when others have given up.
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Adopting a positive attitude will always bring you closer to success, as nobody wants to be associated with a losing side. Everyone wants to associate with and hire winners, and avoids losers. Nothing is more important than maintaining a positive attitude, as many employers hire people based primarily on attitude; with the right attitude, everything else will fall into place. You must look like you are on the winning team, even if times are tough; nobody wants to hire a loser.
The past does not dictate the future, so you should not use inductive reasoning to make conclusions about your life or career. Recognize when you are making incorrect conclusions based on past events, and switch to deductive reasoning in which you are not limited by the past. You will find your conclusions to be much more accurate, and you will succeed as a result.
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Mr. Barnes, YOU are an over-deliverer and Hound.com is proof of it, as is your unselfish quest to help others find quality jobs without irritating middlemen. Thank you for the services you offer here and the common-sense advice you give.
Match making and successful dating are apt analogies in addition for the point well made concerning success because successful job ‘matching’ in addition to indicators of ‘over delivering’ through being client centric requires a good ‘feel’ for the increased chance of ‘good chemistry’ occurring between the applicant and the employer/decision maker which will naturally enhance the qualifying skillsets.
For example, up until 2008 ANY employer in my chosen field/s of real estate and mortgage was due to either my own direct approach or referral and pretty much the ‘decider’ in addition to my qualifications was ‘chemistry’ ie: mutual ‘likeability’ between myself and staff usually resulting in ‘spot hiring’ or close to it by a week or so.
Now this is personal, but following the market crash in 2008 that completely wiped out the real estate and mortgage company of just over 200 reps at its peak that I last worked at and finding that re-engagement in my field is not a realistic option at this time (due to complete exhaustion of savings resources used for my own marketing