2025 Big Rocks

I have been sharing this anecdote below every year, either on LinkedIn or for my own colleagues, for around 20 years now. It's funny how time creeps up on you!

I had some interesting homework this holiday season: My esteemed colleague, Cody L. Horton , is writing yet another book (does he ever sleep!), this time on leadership, and asked for my thoughts as I have been fortunate enough to have worked with and recruited some very influential leaders in my time. It was a difficult task, to be honest, to distill all that I have learned from numerous mentors, managers, clients and candidates. However, a few themes did come to mind which likely won't be a surprise to most of you: If a leader acts with kindness, compassion, integrity and respect, along with a passion for what they are doing, then others tend to follow. Let's hope we see plenty of those kinds of traits this coming year...

At this time last year I had thought that 2024 was going to be better than 2023, and yes, you can call me na?ve as it wasn't in so many ways. There were a lot of difficult times and unpleasant surprises for many folks, along with not that much good news. Our various member meetings and Benchmark Surveys give me hope, however, so I am going to do it all over again and assume the best for 2025: A more positive environment for the recruiting function, for our colleagues who are looking for new roles, and for our members who are doing their best to add value to their organizations.

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As is my tradition over the last couple of decades or so there follows a parable, and as always, the credit goes to?Dr. Steven Covey for this perennial favorite. I hope this coming year is memorable for you for all the right reasons, and that you are able to focus on what is most important to you.

'Big Rocks', paraphrased from Dr. Stephen R. Covey's 'First Things First':

One day an expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration which started as follows:

The lecturer said, "Okay, it's time for a quiz."

Reaching under the table, he pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar and set it on the table next to a platter covered with fist-sized rocks. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked the audience.

After the students made their guesses, the seminar leader said, "Okay, let's find out." He put one rock in the jar, then another, then another, until no more rocks would fit. Then he asked, "Is the jar full?" Everybody could see that not one more of the rocks would fit, so they said, "Yes."

"Not so fast," he cautioned. From under the table he lifted out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel slid into all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Grinning, the seminar leader asked once more, "Is the jar full?"

A little wiser by now, the students responded, "Probably not."

"Good," the teacher said. Then he reached under the table to bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar. While the students watched, the sand filled in the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel. Once more he looked at the class and said, "Now, is the jar full?" "No," everyone shouted back.

"Good!" said the seminar leader, who then grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it into the jar. He got something like a quart of water into that jar before he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the jar is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this? What's my point?"

An eager participant spoke up: "Well, there are gaps in your schedule. And if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life."

"No," the teacher said. "That's not the point. The point is this: If I hadn't put those big rocks in first, I would never have gotten them in."

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Again, wishing everyone as wonderful a year as possible in 2025.

Best regards

Simon

Simon Mullins, author, and host at IX Communities: The preeminent peer networking groups for talent leadership professionals, worldwide. www.IXCommunities.org

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