$$€€￡￡s & Numbers - is that what really drives us?

Ever since I was a kid I was taught to be focused on the outcome. From my days at school, when we were set tests (I usually failed!), to the teenage times when it was all about exam results and qualifications (failed them too), to the career when it was all about the bottom-line.

Now, don't get me wrong producing results remains the #1 priority, and earning good money is great, but it's doing an amazing job in the right way, better than anyone else that surely drives you?

We're obsessed by numbers and that as a measurement of success and failure in business all makes sense, but.....

I've built businesses, delivered projects and always at the end felt deflated once the result was achieved. I look back now and realise it's not the result, but instead it's the doing that drives me and if I'm not loving the doing, I quickly stop and move on. You see, I know unless you love it, there are others out there who do, who will obsess, work harder and always always win versus the one who does not.

Upon my return to the UK, sometime ago now, I've been working hard to recondition myself to recall what has always driven me in the past - loving the doing.

And as to the "doing", to me there's nothing more fulfilling in this world than helping others achieve their goals.

choosing the "doing" & "doing" the right thing

It sounds so easy and of course it isn't. The world of business is huge and finding something out there that you love doing and at the same time can help others is sometimes a confusing place.

But before we go there, let's establish the foundations of our future and I believe it's never too late to start. Today, we as a human race live longer than ever and with the advancement of technology, our lives are extending frequently into our late 80s and 90s (I'm hoping for the ton personally). But, it's not just medication that prolongs our lives, but our own mental wellbeing.

How many times have we heard of people retiring and passing away soon after? They had died inside first as they had stopped doing what they loved.

Choose an enjoyable life and find something you can see yourself doing to the day you die! and jump in with both feet. At least that's my motto

To do something for the rest of your life relies on your personal brand. Oh yes, I know it feels like jargon in today's world, but truthfully your personal brand is no different to your reputation. you want a reputation that will stand you up, for the years to come. I personally think there's nothing stronger than always doing the right thing. 

It was just the other day, when a client of mine said "what I'm about to say, you may not like, but it's what this project needs". He continued to discuss how a transformation project was over staffed and needed to be restructured using the existing great skills, increasing their responsibilities and in so doing refocusing the team, increasing productivity and reducing the staffing/cash-burn. My response was immediate - we all want to be associated with success and any short term loss for the long-term reputation and doing the right thing for a successful project, has to be the right way forward.

finding what you love

It often happens by accident. Life's events land you in places you'd never imagine. Being in recruitment to some means I'm in a world of "necessary parasites"! But to me, recruiters have brought that on themselves and I spend every day trying to prove I am not like that. I have to add value in every way I can.

It was a few months ago, I had been spending my usual weekend immersing myself in business and technology as things are moving so fast and I uncovered an incredible video from Boston Consulting all about Industry4.0.

I recall it was front and centre about delivering the consumer faster and more personalized products and as a result bringing employment back to the UK. I knew at that moment it was the future driver for business. I had to be at the centre of the 4th Industrial Revolution, because over the next 50 years it is going to make a huge positive difference to our world.

legacy patience, daily hustle

We are not doing this to buy a fancy car or house, nor to own material objects that really have no purpose in your life, other than to look good in front of people you don't know!

We are doing this for the rest of our lives and to build a reputation as one of the best there is.

Whether you're in your 20s or 60s, there's between sixty and twenty plus years left to do what you love to do and so patience is everything. Rome, The Pyramids, or The Acropolis weren't built in a day and frankly took many lifetimes.

Your legacy takes a lifetime of doing the right thing and loving what you're doing. But with that macro patience comes the micro hustle. The hustle in order to think you know what you're doing, to realize you don't, to make the mistakes, to make a fool of yourself and to keep on learning until you become the best at what you do. That's the fun, that's the love.

the OCD tactics

We have all heard at some point "it's a numbers game" and in part I agree. In every business there are KPIs, a certain number of suspects to prospects to qualifications to presentations and to sales. 

But in recruitment I have a different belief to many. to many recruiters X number of Job Orders = a certain number of Send Outs/Interviews = a certain number of Sales. And as a result, recruiters like to gather Job Orders, working them all to a cursory degree and hoping the mud occasionally sticks.

To me, life is about relationships and you only need a few. Therefore, when a great Job Order is acquired, you give it everything and more, to the point of obsession. Knowing the business, the project, the exact requirements of the hiring manager are my obsession followed swiftly by a never ending approach to filling that Job Order with the perfect person. If I can't fill every single Job Order, then I'm doing something wrong and I need to learn for the future.

At the end of the day, the right thing to do is to do everything you can for that prospective or current client and to love each and every minute of searching for the "needle in the haystack" (the resource)

And then, hopefully soon, as businesses start to realize the incredible benefits of New Product Innovation, Collaborative Platforms, Product Lifecycle Management, and Smart Manufacturing they will work with me, knowing everything will be done to solve their resource problem, because I love doing it.

Thanks for making it all the way to the bottom of this one!

My best wishes

Andrew