"Make me fall in love with you"

On Wednesday, I had the chance to attend a small event organized in Adecco Group Italy’s Milan HQ, where 3 top projects were presented by teams from Enjoy Your Learning, talent academy powered by Università Cattolica. The challenge, needless to say, was not an easy one – improve Adecco’s employer branding, and create a communication plan accordingly.

I previously said “I had the chance”, and I mean it in literal sense – it was one of those enlightening moments which seldom happen, especially in an entrepreneur’s life. You are constantly expecting epiphanies anytime and anywhere – but when they do happen, they are genuinely surprising.

Life bless you Monica, outstanding manager and amazing woman, for insisting I should attend. Thank you, because I walked out from that crowded room with a strong mantra: “make me fall in love with you”.

I hope the winners forgive my theft, but not only this is a fitting metaphor for the hard job of recruiting – it truly encloses the essence of mentorship. As it is not enough for a company to be well run, have good reputation and solid figures to make us, the millennials, want to work there; it is not enough for you to be an able manager or entrepreneur to succeed either. You need to fall in love with people.

I live by that when I get random messages from strangers on my social media – they see my content, they think my #StopWhining is a cool hashtag, they claim to be inspired by what I do. What do I do next? Call them. I listen to their dreams and concerns, I ask what can I do for them, we share visions. I pick up the phone with curiosity – I hang up inspired.

Magic? No – value in relationships, and ultimately, inspiration. The trick only works if you are not afraid to make people fall in love with you. And more importantly, if you are open to fall in love with them.

(Author note: get in touch with me. I'd love to talk!)