People are just people...Regardless of their titles

I have had the privilege of interacting with some of the world’s finest business people and in most circumstances, am consistently reminded of the fact that despite their intimidating titles and extraordinary success, they are just ordinary people. They have bad days, they get sick, they have fights with their significant others, they more than likely even use emojis! According to Arielle Pardes of Wired;

“Emojis are more than a millennial messaging fad. Not many people go a day without sharing some sort of emoji...no matter their age. This is because emojis are the language of our time.”

And what a time it is to be alive!

When walking into a room of executives and introducing myself as the Head of the Executive Search Business Unit and the person who is going to be responsible for finding the team their next great addition the facial response are often priceless. They tend to look me up and down, puzzle about my potential age and then the politely, the concerned questions commence; “Amy, how do you anticipate connecting with and harnessing the executive that we need to join our team? We are looking for someone very experienced you know...”

In the words of Sherlock Holmes; “Convention is the enemy of interesting.” At the heart of any relationship, be it business or personal is the ability to connect. Age, however, does not define connection. Of course it is generally easier to resonate with someone who has been through similar circumstances to you but this is most certainly not defined by ones age respectively. The business world is starting to focus less on CV’s and more on the cultural fit and one’s ability to have a positive impact. With this change, the concern of age becomes less and less of a mention, with the hiring Executives not likely to be scouring the page for your ID number to determine what year you were born but rather are more interested in hearing about your experience and why you would be an asset to their Company. The same applies to Executive Search, my ability to network is not based on my age but rather my ability to form genuine relationships with “world changing people,” that I am able to partner with businesses where there is a tangible synergy.

Having the ability to make these connections requires an understanding and recognition that despite their Company, status and titles, that they are just people and should be interacted with as any normal person. With this ethos being one that underpins the success of my business, I have formed so many fantastic business relationships that I would go as far as to refer to as friendships. This often includes phoning them to wish them happy birthday, wishing them all the best for a race they are due to partake in, sending them some flowers or biltong in the event of a loss. To some this may be considered “suck up behaviour” however for me this is completely genuine. I genuinely care about those I work with and place. I am good at my job because first and foremost I care, and secondly because I place the RIGHT people with the RIGHT companies and it is not merely a CV pushing exercise.

So the next time you sit next to someone you might have seen on the news, on LinkedIn or know of from Nose Week on the airplane, just remember, they are a person just like you and deserve to be treated that way. Never let conventional rules and assumptions keep you from connecting!