There are seven things recruiters should 'be' if they want to succeed, according to business strategy expert Lars Löfstrand.
Speaking at an RCSA breakfast in Sydney yesterday on "Skyrocketing success: Rethinking the Sale", Löfstrand pointed out that 67 per cent of people are in jobs they don't like, and recruiters have a "huge responsibility" in making the right matches.
He says that while most companies "hire on skills, and fire on attitude", studies have shown that attitude is a much greater determinant of success in a role than skills, and it should be the main factor in hiring decisions.
Seven things to practice 'being'
Löfstrand says that to succeed in any role in work and life, we should practice "being" seven things.
Be focused. A lot of us don't have focus, or we focus on the wrong things, Löfstrand says. It's important to realize that, "what you focus on is what you'll get," he says. "If you don't like what you're getting, change what you do."
The purpose of a business is not to make money, it's to create and satisfy the customer, he says, quoting management guru Peter Drucker. If you focus on money you're thinking about yourself and you lose sight of the customer, he says. "It's so subtle that we miss it. Most salespeople are trying to give the customer what they want for them as opposed to what the customer wants.
"You need to create the need [for your services] in the person and then satisfy that need," he says. "If you want to sell more, stop selling and get people to buy."
Be humble. To be humble you need to be teachable, Löfstrand says. However, "most of us are trying to teach". He says that "we tend to box off what we know", but if we don't change we will, by default, be changed.
Be honest. "We're lacking this trait in business today," Löfstrand says. "But there's nothing more sexy to a client than an honest supplier. If you don't know something, tell them. Because people don't care what you know, they care what they know.
"If you show that they know more than you, they will like that. There's a saying: 'If you get people to tell you what they already know, they will consider you a genius.'"
Be proactive. We've become too reactive in business, Löfstrand says. "We tend only to react when things happen. If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. Too many of us are waiting around for things to happen. Make them happen. Be proactive."
Be effective. Lots of people are efficient, but not effective, Löfstrand says. People who are efficient "do things right", but those who are effective "do the right things".
Löfstrand says an exercise will help you make the right choices in your work - he calls it the "KSS principle".
Take three sheets of A4 paper (he says this needs to be done on paper - it won't work in your head) and add the headings "keep", "stop" and "start".
For the first, ask yourself, "What am I doing in my business that is working?" List these things and keep doing them.
Then ask, "What am I doing that is destructive, or not working?" Stop doing these things.
Finally, ask, "What should I be doing that could work?" and start doing these things.
Be positive. Löfstrand says we've become too negative in life. He says people are born positive but are conditioned negative - "we kill that in children".
We are who we are because of the choices we make, not because of either nature or nurture, he says. "Ultimately it's not what happens to you in life, but how you choose to deal with it. Choice is a key factor in determining what you get."
Be passionate. The word "passion" comes from the Latin term meaning "to suffer", and Löfstrand says that to be passionate, "sometimes you have to suffer".
If you compare the things in your life that came easily to you to those that were earned through your blood, sweat and tears you'll usually value the latter much more, he says.
If success in your work isn't something you're willing to suffer for, maybe you're not passionate about it and it would just be "a nice thing to have".
Warmly,
Bob "The nonGeek Geek"
www.Bob.MyProfileWorldwide.com
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