How did they get that job?

My last post in July, ‘Serendipity or Luck?’ created an insightful response from Derren Powell, VP at Mastercard: “…Always being prepared to take time to talk/engage/be inquisitive and demonstrate intent are always solid foundations on which to build success (IMHO).”

I set two challenges:

How can you create the time and space to quieten the noise of the world and connect with the most authentic version of you?

Which locations will create the greatest opportunity for serendipity for you?

Over the summer I embraced these. I was not really looking forward to this summer as we were not going on a family holiday, we had enjoyed parts of Italy over the Easter break.

As an optimist who seeks opportunity in any situation, it has made me discover what is on my doorstep. I was able to enjoy country walks, spend time near the river, attend sporting events, experience the lens from one of the highest points in London, read many books and take a short trip to the sea.

Sure enough, being in the waves and listening to them created time to reflect and frame where my life and business are heading and what would be most valuable to share as we move towards the end of the year.

‘How did they get that job?’ Many times, have I heard this. In one case, an individual failed to achieve one role yet within a month, had taken the leap to be managing the very people they could not get a role reporting to!

So how does this seemingly unqualified, incompetent candidate get the role? This week I am going to give the punchline/perspective first.

They believed they could get the role and applied. FULL STOP.

I struggle with that level of pure self-belief and know many others do as well. Recently, we have unfortunately had to witness the consequences of deluded self-belief, so how can we achieve what we have yet to achieve in our careers without being deluded?

Is there a grounded methodology?

One of the most profound learnings I have gained during my recent coaching course was from Nancy Kline in her book The Promise That Changes Everything: I Won’t Interrupt You. Nancy offers the benefits to you and any person you are communicating with, of listening to them deeply and not interrupting them. In a noisy world, this rare opportunity will enhance their own thinking.

A further valuable insight is:

“The key block to a desired outcome is an untrue limiting assumption…”

How can we challenge our assumptions? I enjoy Eddie Izzard’s comedy, of more value, I admire his ability to challenge assumptions and set himself moon-shot challenges. Like running 27 marathons in consecutive days.

Signing up to perform across France despite not speaking French at the time - now regularly performing stand-up in Arabic, German, Russian, and Spanish,

In his book Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens, Izzard gives a deeply moving account of how his determination has been driven by losing his mum at the age of 6, and the belief that by achieving all these wild goals, she may somehow come back. Of course, this is irrational, yet it is very moving and shows that when our Why is big enough, we can move mountains.

He shares how despite nearly ten years of seeming failure at the Edinburgh Fringe, he had a method to his approach:

"The Nuffield syllabus said: 'Go and work out your own experiments, go and work out what you want to investigate, work out your projects…Working things out as you go along, working out a way in, and getting better at it."

From my observations underselling yourself is as detrimental to your career as overselling yourself. Appropriately positioning yourself as a valuable and scare resource is not just a worthy pursuit, it is also a career-enhancing one.

The truism of the professional job market, the pillar on which I have built successful careers for my clients, is:

Job roles don’t go to the most qualified - they go to the most connected who ask for sponsorship.

My challenge to you this week is to consciously think about truly listening, not interrupting them until they have finished.

Our purpose at Accelerated Career Results; is to transform leaders’ mindset, confidence, and results. For them to achieve their potential through the power of life-enhancing connections, shared experiences, and collaborative learnings.

We achieve this by unlocking the ‘latent ability’ within talented individuals and teams. Our focus is on the Payment, Open Banking and FINTECH industry. We are passionate about enabling women to be appropriately rewarded for the value they add and have created the “Impactful Negotiations for Women” program.

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