WARNING: Geek-speak is about to happen in this blog and it’s not really about leadership (at least not directly). I think this is more about catharsis than it is about anything else, yet some of you may be amused by the trials and tribulations of a died-in-the-wool technologist, suffering at the hands of technology.
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Sometimes, an e-mail forwarded contains information that really is useful and/or makes me stop and think. Here is one such e-mail worth posting for all of us to consider.
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In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
For the layperson, understanding the meaning of quantum physics and relativity is usually a significant challenge. And it mostly winds up being incomprehensible. I don’t pretend to understand the details and I know that the even at a high level quantum concepts and relativity are often beyond my full understanding. So what does this have to do with business?
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Depending on your point of view, we in the USA are either cruelly over taxed or don’t pay our fair share of Federal Taxes. The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party crew thinks we are over taxed. I like to make sure I take advantage of all the tax breaks I can find, but in the end, I’m grateful for the fact that we earn enough income to have to pay taxes. My spouse and I also expressed liking to actually sign the checks to pay our bills. No on-line checking for us. How crazy is that?
So often recruiters are accused of “stealing your best employee.” While it is true that we do present opportunities to your employees, the fact is, we don’t steal them. To the amazement of most recruiters, the vast majority of the time the employee already has a resume prepared and ready to go.
All we do is ask them if they would be open to discussing a potential career opportunity. Virtually 95% of the time the employee replies, “Yes.” Why would anyone not want to know what is going on in the market, have a discussion around their career or just get a feel for current compensation ranges? Even if they are completely happy in their current position, this is good stuff to know.
The important, and I believe the most relevant question is,” Why, out of the 95% that are open to discussing career opportunities, do roughly 10% indicate that they are happy with their job, and although it sounds like a good opportunity, they aren’t interested in pursuing it further?”
What do these 10% have that the other 90% don’t? That is something a recruiter has nothing to do with. They generally have four things, 1) they are learning in their current position, 2) they feel they are having some impact on the company, 3) they are growing, and 4) they respect their boss. When these four things are part of a person’s job, the best recruiter can’t get them to move.
Recently, on one of the e-mail lists to which I subscribe, a colleague mentioned that he had been counseled by one of his mentors that the best thing he could do for his good employees was to fire a bad employee. Sounds harsh. Yet it is true that for the greater good, we have to sometimes admit that we will not be able to help an under performing employee to make the grade. It’s best for them and for the organization if we “make their services available to industry.”
I came across a recent article from a person who is a sales trainer (no names to avoid embarrassments and conflicts) and who seemed to have suddenly awoken to discover that consumers and businesses are no longer buying the way they used to buy. “Gosh,” I thought, “where the heck have you been?” On the other hand, the comments made the point that I and others have been making for over a year now – maybe close to two years, namely that things have changed and they aren’t coming back.
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I admit to feeling inadequate. It seems as though I’m supposed to be able to multi-task, according to what I’m told by many people and according to what I observe others doing. But I can’t really. I try sometimes, but it just doesn’t work for me. I am not interested in “chatting” if I’m watching a television show (I rarely watch TV, it’s got to be something of immediate interest to me). I get annoyed if I’m deep in the middle of a spreadsheet, writing a blog post or wrestling a PC problem to the ground and the phone rings. I can’t read and also listen to music or radio or podcast.
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I wish I had a buck for every time I’ve been told “Yes, but, my business is different.” There are other similar statements that try to make the same point. People seem to have a desire to be unique. We also want to excuse ourselves from admitting that others may have come up with a solution to a challenge we have yet to solve. So we comfort ourselves by saying, “Yes, but my business or company or industry is different.”
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By now we’re used to it. The self-righteous politician who loudly preaches the dire consequences for the country’s failure at family values and then is caught in extramarital affairs; and who none-the-less believe they should still hold their office. Or the politicians and government officials who scream about government waste while feeding themselves at the public trough. And of course, the “fat cat” bankers who (even though their jobs exist today only because the taxpayers bailed them out) believe they are somehow entitled to obscene bonuses. Power, it seems, does in fact corrupt. Worse, the perpetrators are so damned hypocritical and arrogant!
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