They Want (You) to Be Awesome

You want to know how to attract the best talent? Here’s a newsflash:

Millennials are no different than the Baby Boomers, Gen X or Gen Y’s youth of yesterday.

 

No, the difference is in the world they are living in — the world we created for them. We all wanted to matter, but we were just cogs in the wheel, and we detested it. We couldn’t stand the BS that we were required to do to get somewhere. We didn’t like it, but we didn’t have any choices. Today’s youth understands that they have choices. And, they should.

They deserve to be:

respected
seen
valued
invested in
cared for
listened to
encouraged

They deserve this, because that is how we create a future of leaders that will:

respect
see
value
invest in others
care
listen
encourage

Today’s workforce is seeking something more because they can see what is possible — we made this happen, and now, we need to realize that the job is only half done. We need to lean in and cultivate this generation of leaders and not leave them stranded, like we’ve been feeling with the state of our society that has been handed down to us. The most talented applicants are not looking for a job. They are looking for an organization that will provide them a platform for making a difference.

Your Job is a Platform for Generosity

Today, “a job” is way to make your dent in the universe. To do the things you were put on this Earth to do. Finding a job that makes someone capable of being more than a cog in the wheel is what it is all about — for people who want to be awesome.

The skills aren’t what makes someone awesome. No, it’s more than that. If she is going to bring her best self to the job you are offering, you are going to need to see beyond her resume. You are going to need to see her as a human being, with the gifts that can make a difference within your company. If you can’t or won’t see this, she won’t stick around very long. But I hope you’ll begin to see that it’s not her — it’s you that needs to change.

When I was a kid, I wanted something awesome too. I settled for the status quo and, I was miserable, contributed very little to the community, and, depending on how you look at it, I wasted all that time being mediocre. I choose to see it as my path. But that’s because I am an optimist, and looking backwards isn’t going to take me forward. I didn’t know any better and there weren’t many other options. I didn’t have YouTube, GitHub, or TED Talks to inspire me.

Today’s candidates see beyond this. They know what is possible. They know you can do and be more. They want you to see them. If you can’t, or won’t, they won’t settle. They may take the job today, just long enough to find the next place that might see them, value them, appreciate their contribution. You might see this as disloyal, entitled, but they see it as necessary for their survival. Didn’t we all at one point in our lives? We gave that up along the way. But I hope they won’t. I hope they keep challenging you, (and me) to be better, to build our companies for people first.

Status quo, hourly wages, and a job that just requires them to “show up” isn’t going to help the most talented candidates achieve their dreams. But taking this job now is a part of the process. You are a stepping stone, unless you choose to be awesome. The game has shifted, and, I for one am glad to see this happen.

Awesome organizations recognize talent, and invest the time and the energy in seeing — that not only their employees, but also their customers and vendors are people. Not just an expense, investment or cost of doing business. “Awesome” is in every action, iteration and correction — the human-ness in a business allows people to enjoy coming to work.

And, isn’t that something worth working toward?

Awesome isn’t for Everyone?

Someone might argue that not everyone wants to be awesome. Some people just want to show up. They want to clock in, clock out, and stop thinking at 5:00pm. They don’t want you to rely on them to think. They don’t want to solve problems or stay late, or do anything more than they are told. There’s still a market for employees who aren’t awesome, but are these the kind of employees that awesome organizations hire? No.

The number of mind-numbing jobs that are sought after by talented, brilliant, passionate employees is shrinking. Talented candidates of today don’t need to settle, but if your business isn’t making adjustments to attract and retain these candidates, they might need to move away from your town — and, in 10 years when you’ve exported all of the talent from your city, who will be left?

If you’re afraid of the young kid with ideas, maybe you aren’t ready to be awesome. Don’t expect to have a line of talented, brilliant, passionate people lining up to work for you any time soon either. No, those candidates are looking beyond you, possibly with more than mild annoyance. They don’t need you. They know you don’t “get it.” It’s clear to them that you aren’t going to appreciate them —so why would they bring you their best? They’ll save that for their side job — they’ll go home and log on to their online network and they will build their future — a way for them to feel good about the work they do — a way to make an impact and leave their mark on the world.

There’s a world of opportunities out there — the companies that have embraced this new economy are growing in numbers, and stealing your talented graduates, and creative thinkers. Local community leaders are noticing this: Businesses in small towns who don’t recognize that the connection economy is not shrinking the world, it is expanding the horizons for all future leaders. Eventually, there will only be room for what the people want — and the people want Awesome, Remarkable, Special, Unique — and more than the status quo. Because, at the end of our lives, we will look back and ask ourselves:

did I respect? was I respected?
did I see? was I seen?
did I value? was I valued?
did I invest in others? did others invest in me?
did I care for others? did others care for me?
did I listen? was I listened to?
did I encourage? did others encourage me?

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Everything is Figureoutable

 

I originally heard this from Marie Forleo. It wasn’t something that I questioned, as much as I felt a connection to the message. Intuitively, I have always believed that if someone wants to figure something out, she can. When I was listening to Marie share this belief, I found myself thinking:

Yes. I absolutely agree. Everything is Figureoutable.

The only thing stopping you from taking action isn’t that you lack the skill, or the resources. It really just comes down to mindset. This doesn’t mean that you “get” whatever you want. There is no easy button, but it can be figured out.

I recently spoke at a board meeting for a local non-profit organization. They were struggling to take their efforts to the next level — make more money, serve more people, make a bigger difference. There was a sense of disconnect that they couldn’t seem to figure out. Suggestion after suggestion that I made was met with,

“Yeah, but how? How do we do that? How do we find the right people? How do we connect with people who would want to join our board? How do we keep the connection between the students we serve and the future of our organization?”

I didn’t have the answers, and I found myself feeling frustrated that I couldn’t help them. And, then, I realized, they aren’t trying to figure it out. They are stuck in the problem, with no belief that they can do it. They thought I should be able to help them, but unless they decide they can figure it out, there’s not much of a chance that they will do anything about the problem they are scratching their heads about. I hope they can take that first, necessary step and begin to solve the problem with the attitude that they are capable of figuring it out.

How do you figure out the answers to the deepest rooted issues facing your life, business, organization? You decide you will figure it out, and then you set about to do what needs to be done to figure it out.

You start with the attitude that everything is figureoutable, and then you figure it out.

One thing is certain. You won’t figure it out thinking you don’t know how to figure it out. You have to move, iterate, test, and try some thing(s) differently. Whatever you try that doesn’t work gets you one step closer to finding something that will.

First, decide it is figureoutable. If you want to blog, figure it out. If you want to grow your business with social media, figure it out. If you want to run successful Facebook ads, figure it out. If you want to lose weight, figure it out. If you want to learn how to do something new, figure it out.

Sure, there are a lot of things that you won’t need to figure out, because you aren’t the person who should be doing the figuring out. Sometimes, it makes more sense to figure out who the best person to figure it out would be — not you. Does it make sense for you to figure out how to change the oil, or replace the brakes on your car? Does it make sense for you to figure out how to build a website, or learn graphic design? It still needs to be done, and someone is going to need to figure it out in order for the goals to be met.

Hiring someone to figure it is figuring it out!

When we look at the future — figuring it out means being smart, and making the best use of our time. Just because you can’t figure it out yourself doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be done — it simply means you need to figure out a way to get it done.

You get to choose, but whichever choice you make, remember this:

Everything is figureoutable. As soon as you decide.

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You are Not a Fake.

What if the notion that we must “Fake it till we make it” is just God’s way of allowing us to look in the mirror and see who we really are?

We “fake’ our way out of the unpleasant holes, the old programming from the earlier part of our lives, and the bad habits that have sadly become our customary and accepted definitions of ourselves, because we have bought into that definition, so anything different, we tell ourselves, is “fake.”

So we start “faking” it for awhile, and almost miraculously, things start to move, circumstances improve, the hole becomes distant, and the “making it” starts to happen in ways we never believed were possible.

And, then like clockwork, as soon as we’re “making it,” a flood of doubts starts to threaten everything we’ve done to get here because, afterall, we were merely faking, right?

It’s when we get to this important turning point, that we need to really pay attention to our inner dialogue, listen carefully and decide whether or not we are finally ready to shed the past. Because it’s then that we’ll understand what was really happening while we were “faking.” And the results might allow us to see God smiling at us and saying:

“I’ve known who you were all this time. I’m so glad you’ve finally been able to see the beautiful person I have created you to be. You are a remarkable human being. I am proud of who you are.”

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How to Dance: a Post altMBA Perspective

Since reading Icarus Deception, by Seth Godin in 2012, I have been forcing myself to stop dancing with the Lizard Brain (aka the Resistance) and to look for ways to make myself stronger, more resilient, and willing to do the work required to get outside of my comfort zone.

In March of this year (2017), I made a decision to leap. I sent in my application to altMBA with a desire to force a change in myself. I was feeling stuck, looking for more, and uncertain how to level-up.

5 years of moving forward, and forcing the edges of my own personal growth proved to me that I was capable of more than I’d ever imagined. I hadn’t done anything alone, but it was time for me to finally claim responsibility for getting myself this far. I was owning my gifts, but I just didn’t know how to take the next step, and I was somewhat paralyzed with the success I had managed to find along the way. What if this is it? I was asking myself. And altMBA proved to me that “this” is just the beginning.

I had a phone conversation with a kindred spirit this week, to discuss some potential marketing for his company. He contacted me after his daughter, Zoe had encouraged him to reach out because, having worked for my agency as an intern this year, she felt that we shared some common values — and believed it would be worth having a conversation. As we talked, it was plainly clear to me that there were indeed some very common values, and we shared visions for ourselves and our futures.

Our conversation led to my recent graduation from altMBA. I suggested he consider it himself for this next phase of his business’s development. He said he would consider it, and a few hours later, he messaged me with this request:

“Would you be willing to share with me the 2–3 things that were most valuable to you that did or will have the biggest impact on you as a human being and in your business — and why?”

That is the purpose of this post. To share how altMBA has changed me and how others reading this might benefit from taking advantage of the opportunity to lean in and find the value of shipping — and shipping often.

Before this course, I was clear on one thing — that I needed to gain clarity. I was stuck, exploring a lot of possible directions, and unsure which one would be the “right one” for me. Through the work I completed and the conference calls I attended, I discovered what I can do when I am intentional and focused. I cannot say it provided me with every answer and that today, I have it all figured out — but that was not the point.

I can say, however that I have learned to ship. The person I was before was holding back, waiting for something — but today, I am charging forward with the understanding that the work is in the doing, not in the perfecting. Perfecting comes from doing, not the other way around. altMBA has given me permission to leap more bravely and intentionally than before.

Since altMBA ended:

  1. I have continued to build on the momentum that the altMBA experience has provided me. I have tools in my tool chest that I didn’t have before.
  2. Enrolling in altMBA gave me a reason to “excuse myself” from my regular schedule, and to learn that life goes on without me — such a liberating realization.
  3. I have shifted my priorities, because I learned what should be delegated, and what needed my attention the most. (Still working on this).
  4. I have accepted the fluid nature of goals, and forgiven myself for the “thrashing” that takes place when trying to find the path to achieve those goals.
  5. I have started to acknowledge the advantage of having other people on the team — and the importance of establishing a clearly defined vision that they can too follow.
  6. Fine-tuning the team is necessary — not everyone will “get it” and that’s ok. Shedding is healthy.
  7. I have connected with the alumni, and discovered the wonder land — a community of people who think like me, who value the importance and significance of the work we are all doing and a place for me to continue to nurture and grow.

I am no longer putting my work on the back burner. I have launched BeAwesomeDaily.com and even invited my inner circle to follow my journey (big win for me), updated the branding, and started a 30 day blog challenge (this is day 7) — and I am continuing to develop that program daily — through my daily blog AND integrating the experience from altMBA into providing a platform for others to embark on their own 30 Day Blog Challenge, complete with encouragement, tools for getting started, staying motivated and including a step-by-step guide for the best practices of the art of blogging using the worlds most ubiquitous blogging platform — WordPress.

I think, prior to altMBA, I was not looking at the work I have already done as valuable, not giving myself credit for what was working, and only demoralizing myself because I wasn’t further along the journey already. At the same time, I was stuck looking at this as a problem that I needed to overcome. It was like I kept running into the wall, hoping to find a door instead. Since, then this blindness has been replaced with a pivot in the short term plan, as a means to get closer to the long-term plan. The final goal has not pivoted, only my openness to a new path to get there.

Moving forward, this energy will stay alive by taking positive risks, daily. Incorporating my new network of alumni to allow myself a place to thrash, experiment, share and explore partnerships and opportunities that were not available to me prior to altMBA. I think anyone who has committed to the process will find an incredible world of fresh perspectives and welcoming mindsets within the “walls” of this experience. There is always something new to learn. I will continue to level up and hopefully, along the way, I will inspire someone else — maybe my new friend Chris, who asked me to share this experience — to take the leap, do the work, and see the world new again. But the most important outcome has been — I am no longer stuck where I was.

And, I can do anything for 30 Days.

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