Recruiting or Retention Is Just Like the Chicken or the Egg – Part 1

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

Sixty-two percent of CEO’s say they will be hiring more in 2014 according to a PwC report and yet Gallup reports some of the lowest employee engagement and morale numbers even with the economy improving. So what’s more important: is it recruiting or retention for your HR and hiring teams?

The battle between HR and Recruiting is centered on two things recruiting versus retention. What’s more important? How can companies choose between filling a leaky bucket or filling those leaks through employee engagement and development strategies?

As professionals we understand that recruitment and retention both have value that impact the bottom line. The risk and expense invested in talent are the highest in the early stages of the talent growth life cycle. From talent outreach activities to the sign on bonuses, relocation packages and training of the new hires, upfront recruitment costs can run three to four times the normal rate.

Retention is managed with the help of insurance, vacation, holiday pay and the long-term benefit packages that have been designed to keep the newbies loyal, gainfully hired in hopes to retain and develop human capital.  This approach is designed to grow the initial value of the talent investment, however, it is possible that the benefits being offered alone are merely maintaining the employees. The traditional benefit packages are not rewarding the attributes today’s companies need to compete. Furthermore, the benefit packages are not meeting the needs of today’s most stellar professionals. This is the reason for the revolving door of today’s workforce. A very expensive door.

This makes sense doesn’t it? Hiring new people who have a fresh approach to solving your organization’s challenges just seems easier, smarter and faster. Bringing on new people to offer new ideas and a new life into the organization seems to be a key strategy for many of today’s leaders who want to innovate and compete in the market.

Especially in today’s digital era that is riddled with disruption and change, companies understand the need to innovate. Innovation is all about the “new” and the “different.” This is an exciting time for those who are change agents. Change agents who have ideas and take initiatives to implement the ideas are coveted traits that recruiters are courting today.

Retaining talent that is innovative in today’s digital world on the other hand is not that easy. For many years, change agents have been out-casted and have not been the “top in class” in companies. The ideas and enthusiasm that was once alive in some of the humans sitting in your company’s cubicles has either dimmed or completely gone dark. Why? The traditional benefit packages reward employees for longevity and not innovation.

Have your benefit packages and retention programs turned yesterday’s change agents into coasters? You may need to innovate your own retention strategy before you make the decision to just cut your losses and investing more resources into recruitment.

Managing human capital in today’s disruptive market requires new and innovative strategies for both recruiting and retaining. Both are important areas of investment. I’ll write more about specific strategies that you can implement to help engage talent in your recruiting and retention activities in the Part 2 of this series, stay tuned.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s is the Chief Blogger & Founder of Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @jmillermerrell. 

Veterans Series: If you don't find a job, create one! Conversation with Fred Wellman

This post is part of a series that already includes conversations with:

Chris Norton: Veterans are social and connected

Lance Sapera: The service is a long version of University

Caleb Fullhart: An army recruiter changed my life forever

Arron Daniels: I Can Knock It Out of the Park!

Rhonda Stickley: Embracing the Learn and Grow Veterans' ethos to understand leadership

Brenda Bell: Veterans will help your company succeed

Max Dubroff: Ten recommendations to veterans.

By Marylene Delbourg-Delphis

Fred Wellman is the founder-CEO of ScoutComms, a social enterprise communications, advocacy and philanthropic strategy firm supporting veterans, military families and organizations committed to their well-being.

How did you get into the military? What did you do and for how long?

I “rebelled” as a teenager and instead of going to the University of Missouri like the rest of my family I got crazy and went to the United States Military Academy at West Point. I graduated in 1987 and was commissioned as an Aviation officer and eventually found myself as a Scout helicopter pilot in various units around the world and in Operation Desert Storm. I served 13 years before leaving the Regular Army for the Reserves only to be mobilized on 9/11 and return again to the active force. I deployed with the 101^st Airborne Division for opening year of Operation Iraqi Freedom and while in Iraq found myself supporting the local population and eventually in the news. The division commander was then Major General David Petraeus and he decided to make me the division public affairs officer when we returned. I later served as his spokesman in Iraq as well as then Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey who is now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I attended grad school at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and was assigned to the Pentagon. After my third Iraq tour in 2008 I decided to retire after 22 total years of service.

If you don’t find a job, create one! Right?    

Yes! After leaving the military, I joined a small firm but soon found out that it wasn’t a good fit. Then I interviewed for jobs, but no one was hiring me in November of 2010; so I struck out on my own.  I saw there was a niche for someone who understood the military, defense and veterans’ worlds at larger PR firms. So, I started my own firm essentially as a professional sub-contractor to larger PR firms. Gradually we just grew on our own merits and kept picking up unique opportunities and partners. Our big break came when The Home Depot Foundation decided to focus on veterans housing issues and brought us on to their team for the launch and program three years ago and since then more and more of our work has focused exclusively on veteran’s issues. For the last year or so, a significant part of our work has focused on veteran family issues, on military caregivers for our wounded and disabled veterans, and on supporting the Get Skills to Work program bringing veterans to work in the advanced manufacturing industry. We also got involved in supporting the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, which does a lot of the thinking on these issues and focuses on entrepreneurship and job training. So really, that’s our thing.

ScoutComms, my company, which is based in Virginia, has now been around for three years and at the beginning of this year we turned it into a social enterprise ‘Benefit Corporation’. So we now have a structure as a benefit corporation with social mission focused on veterans and military families.

We’re really a weird little company. It’s foundation are communications-based initiatives; advocacy, being experts in our field; helping craft philanthropic strategies and reach veterans and military families. It’s just sort of a unique niche, and we’ve gotten pretty good at it. A lot of people first hire us as PR, but also look to us as a military expert, if you will, even though I hate that term – “expert.” Then, when we grew, since all we did was veterans and military families, we thought we would go out and meet non-profits for them, we’d vet them for the client, we would look for opportunities for them to apply their mission to new ways, sniffing out fakes or poorly run non-profits. I think we’ve done it all, as far as being people who understand the veteran’s space and help our clients navigate this unusual sector.

As a PR firm, what do you exactly do?

We are specialists in focusing on the military and veteran’s media and target audiences. Take The Home Depot for example. On the corporate side we’ve quite a bit and won awards for our work with them. Our biggest project was the Mission: Transition campaign last year. We partnered with the MSLGroup on that one and we were brought in by The Home Depot to serve as the military focused extension to the campaign. We handled the military focused media, government media, and outreach to the military transition programs to reach potential attendees. We did a lot of outreach to the Army, for example the Army’s Soldier for Life campaign and the Army’s community relations program to get as many soldiers as possible to attend the workshops with postings in every Army transition office around the world. We also leveraged our extensive relationships with the veteran’s service organizations and non-profits to get the word to their members and reach more of the veteran population. In the end every workshop at over 100 locations were filled and the campaign won several awards including two Silver Anvils from PRSA.

Tell me more about the Get Skills to Work program

We have been very fortunate to be part of supporting GE’s leadership of the Get Skills to Work program. Just over a year and a half ago, GE recognized they faced a skills gap of employees in the manufacturing industry. To address it they decided to focus on bringing veterans into the industry, but they wanted to go beyond just a hiring program – they had that already. So they partnered with the Manufacturing Institute, which is a part of the National Manufacturing Association here in Washington and several other companies and non-profits.  Now they’ve built a coalition of now over five hundred companies, ranging in size from twelve-man operations here in Fredericksburg, VA to GE, Alcoa, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, the founding partners. And they’ve also built a coalition of over fifty schools, where veterans can go Get Skills to Work training, at community colleges and technical schools, to get advanced manufacturing certifications and qualifications. We’re talking CNC Machine Operator, Machinist, Welder, Logistics Analyst’s there’s some eleven specific career fields, and then these guy and girls find jobs in the manufacturing industry. The program is growing every day and is really just getting its legs and making a difference in the community.

What are your top recommendations to organizations?

I apply the “kitchen sink” approach to working with the veterans and military family communities. In other words the challenges for these communities is that they don’t have just one solution so we need to throw everything and the kitchen sink to solve the problems. I tell organizations to look for areas that aren’t being addressed. For example, while young veteran unemployment is finally coming down to manageable levels we continue to see our military spouses struggle to find work and it impacts the military community. I believe organizations should seek opportunities for impact giving instead of throwing out “cardboard checks” where possible. In other words, find quality non-profits that are making a difference in the communities and ensure your money is making as big an impact as possible. I believe giving should align with a companies core principals and priorities. If your company is oriented on the health and wellness of its employees then seek out organizations like Team Red, White & Blue which use physical fitness activities to bring veterans and their communities together. Don’t believe the hype about veteran’s challenges fitting in companies and especially all of us having PTSD or other problems. The overwhelming majority of veterans in poll after poll are well adjusted and better for their service. There are clearly those in our community struggling but don’t assume all veterans are in that place.

Four Social Media Tactics You Should Abandon

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

Aberdeen reports that 88% of companies are incorporating social recruiting and social media tools into their existing strategy. Finally, the majority of organizations are getting social. Welcome laggards.

Now that social recruiting is progressing, we must ask “How will HR professionals deploy social recruiting tactics?” Of course, this is an obvious question for the social newbies who may have no idea how to begin. But some recruiters have already implemented social strategies for some time now and I am here to tell you that some of you are doing it wrong.

It’s ok. I applaud you for stepping up, taking a risk and adopting social early on. But you need to know that social business has grown up and you need to too.

As technology platforms have evolved so have the users. Users are expecting a level of social etiquette. Some of your social behaviors are in bad form and are most likely reflecting your company’s brand poorly. Sloppy or lazy social activities may also be limiting the outcome of your efforts. Therefore, you need to update your approach to social media. Let me help you.

Here are four common social media tactics that need to be abandoned for social recruiting success. If you are doing any of these, please stop.

1.     Using Twitter and LinkedIn as your own job feed.

There are valid benefits to posting your company’s jobs to your social media platforms. After all, social tools are effective search engines, however if you are only posting job opportunities to your Twitter and LinkedIn site, then you are missing the full purpose of social networking.  The key in relationship recruiting is to build a long-term relationship and conversation with the ideal candidate. You certainly would not attend networking events only to shout out every job vacancy you are seeking to fulfill would you? Likewise, don’t go to your social network sites foolishly.  

2.    Creating boundaries to protect you from the masses of job seekers.

Are you hiding behind your social profiles in attempt to control your interactions with job seekers? Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the quantity of job seekers who are disgruntled. Stop trying fix everything. There will always be unhappy job seekers. You will not be able to please the masses and job seekers are entitled to be angry the hiring process. Instead of fearing these engagements, embrace them. Allow them to drive change on your recruiting team or company.

3.    Limiting social activities to Facebook and LinkedIn search bars.

It’s time to move beyond Facebook posts and LinkedIn searches that are superficial and deploy social recruiting as a priority for your hiring plan and human capital growth strategy. I’m not suggesting that you abandon social search. I think done correctly it can be a valuable candidate and engagement source to connect to targeted job seekers. Social recruiting must go beyond the social search bar because there is so much more opportunity available.

4.    Automating your social.

Scheduling updates using a tool like Hootsuite or Buffer can be productive. However, don’t rely on this activity as your only social tactic. Remember that social success is about engagement. Dedicate efforts to be conversational. Add comments. Get involved with chats. Send direct messages. Share or retweeting other people’s updates. Want to get really social? Pick up the phone. Meet someone for coffee. Invite someone who is a key connector and possible future candidate to an event you plan to attend. Don’t rely on the social tools to do all of the work for you, less you will be a tool yourself. Remember you are not a robot. You are human and you are in the business of developing human capital.

Are you doing any of these social tactics? Stop and be more social savvy with your recruiting efforts. Are there any other social habits that need to be abandoned that I didn’t mention? Let us know!

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s is the Chief Blogger & Founder of Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @jmillermerrell. 

5 Sales Skills That Make a Recruiter Successful

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

One in nine Americans done the official titles of sales however, Daniel Pink believes that 8 out of 9 Americans work in a sales capacity. The role of sales is extremely apparent to the corporate recruiter who is responsible to sell to both the candidate and the hiring manager.

Recruitment is closely aligned to sales.

A good sales person understands the entire sales lifecycle from the beginning of phases of qualifying and identifying potential buyers for the available product or service. They understand the key features and benefits of what they are selling and they search the market for the right buyers. Doesn’t that sound just like recruitment?

Recruiters are selling both sides of the employment opportunity. They seek to qualify and identify top candidates for a job requisition they are looking to fill. They identify the top benefits or perks that appeal to their best candidates while simultaneously selling their top prospects to the hiring manager showcasing their candidate’s top qualities.

To be a successful recruiter, you must be successful at sales.

What does it take for a person to be successful at sales? Some say it requires the right personality, attitude and overall approach. But what qualities are most important to a recruiter who is ABR (Always Be Recruiting)?

There are five key sales skills that make recruiters successful. These essential traits include:

1.     Empathy

Understanding how others feel, or to empathize is important to recruitment. By examining the needs and objectives of the candidates and the hiring manager, recruiters can identify the needs of each party and present solutions that lead to trust and rapport.

2.     Focus

Maintaining a focus on the objectives is critical to the sales cycle and recruitment process. When recruiters are focused, they tend to be self-motivated and organized. They also are good listeners with the ability to drive the conversations towards the goals for acquiring top talent.

3.     Responsibility

Successful sales professionals never make excuses or blame others for their circumstances. They continuously and confidently strive to reach their goals so that they may achieve the intended results. They have tenacity that is motivated by action items.

4.     Optimism

A positive mindset is an important trait to the recruitment process because of the ongoing need to overcome obstacles. Because there are many factors to account for that recruiters cannot control entirely, taking the initiative and maintaining persistence regardless of any setback will allow success throughout the recruitment process.

5.     Ego-drive

Self-motivated and a self-starter, a person with ego-drive is highly competitive and strives to achieve and win. Ego-drive is especially necessary with an ABR approach.

Because recruiters are consistently scouting talent and mining the market for potential hires to present to the hiring managers, these five sales skills will be key to the full lifecycle of talent sourcing. If you are a recruiter producing marginal results, it may be beneficial for you to find these inner traits within your self and begin to approach your recruiting efforts like a sales professional.

Veterans Series: Ten recommendations to veterans. A conversation with Max Dubroff

This post is part of a series that already includes conversations with:

Chris Norton: Veterans are social and connected

Lance Sapera: The service is a long version of University

Caleb Fullhart: An army recruiter changed my life forever

Arron Daniels: I Can Knock It Out of the Park!

Rhonda Stickley: Embracing the Learn and Grow Veterans' ethos to understand leadership

Brenda Bell : Veterans will help your company succeed

By Marylene Delbourg-Delphis

Max Dubroff is the"HR MAXimizer" of Buy for Le$$, a leading grocery provider of fresh, diverse, unique and economical food products in Oklahoma which he joined in 2009 after over 20 years in the military. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy and selected the Security Police career field, which he says was "a fantastic decision.  I learned tremendous amounts about leadership and had many opportunities to have positive impacts on the mission and people.  For one-fourth of my career, I was entrusted with command of two squadrons, the most rewarding role in my life."  If I had to summarize Max's approach, I would say that he never left his life entirely up to chance and instead deliberately created his own luck with amazing focus and determination.

What did you do to transition from the Military to a civilian position?

I got educated.  I earned a degree in human resource management 17 years prior to retirement, because I thought I might like that field; it was a key differentiator and helped me earn more.

I was mentally prepared.  Although I was never impacted by a RIF (Reduction-in-Force), I realized that everyone needs to be prepared at all times. My professional readings included books and magazines that helped me get an understanding of the culture outside the military, particularly in business. I went to transition assistance twice, once prior to retirement in Germany and then while on terminal leave in Oklahoma. Both were a little out of touch with what companies really want, but they helped me figure out my own path.

I networked.  I found a great mentor in the HR field who specializes in networking. I joined Toastmasters; I went to Rotary meetings; I joined the local HR professionals organization... None of it got me a job.  But, I was learning more about the community. I got certified.  I studied for professional certification and earned it.  Military certifications do not mean much to civilian employers. I looked everywhere.  I had to get over the idea of working for the #1 company in the area and look at industries I had not considered.  I accepted every interview opportunity and saw it as a chance to hone my skills; that is how I found my job ... I wasn't looking at them, but I was ready for when I met them. I accepted a challenging position in a company that was strong and growing, that I knew I could have a great impact on.  I didn't get paid as much as I wanted, but I knew I would earn more as I proved my value.

What are your top ten recommendations to veterans?

 1. You're not the only ones who work hard.  Small and medium businesses (i.e. the majority of businesses that exist) have a level of 'do more with less' that exceeds what most veterans can fathom.  Sure, there are some nice, laid-back companies out there; but, many of them are getting passed by the smart, hard-working ones.

 2. It is competitive.  Don't presume that 'qualified' is enough ... There are plenty of people who are qualified.  Know yourself and have a focus on what you want. Note that as a hiring manager, I am turned off by someone who says, "I'll do anything" because it won't be a good marriage."

 3. Look for entry points to organizations you want.  It might not be the dream job at first, but it will give you the opportunity to prove your value and progress to that dream job after a long time. The military culture typically thinks in shorter 'tours' than civilian businesses, so be ready to persist.

 4. Be realistic.  Picture yourself in the military, having numerous years of experience ... and then they announce that they are bringing in a person who has extensive experience in leading businesses ... to be your commander!  How absurd, right?  Well, the same logic applies to you.  Don't expect to enter the business world at (or near) the top after having no experience in their industry [see #2 above].

 5. Learn the civilian jargon.  I met a retired E-8 who wrote on his resume that he was the chief operations officer for his organizations.  He had no idea what that meant and his rationalization exposed his weaknesses.  Yes, we hope they will accommodate us and try to figure out what our jargon means; but, they are looking at piles of resumes and you want yours to stand out.

 6. A good resume takes lots of work; but a good resume won't get you a job.  You need a great resume to even get noticed, and that will take tons of work.  Buy or borrow some books and get advice from others.  Trim it down and make it focused on the key points.  Leave white space and make it readable.

 7. Interview a lot.  Every interview is different and you will learn about yourself and be better prepared for the most important interview when the opportunity comes.

 8. Do not pay for assistance right away.  Resume writing services are most helpful if you have been working on your resume for months and can't see the next rendition.  There are also agencies that will help prep, network and place you for a mere $3k-$4k. I haven't seen a good one yet, but I am sure they are out there.  Make sure you do your homework and check their results carefully before you open your wallet.

 9. Volunteer.  It's a great way to network and develop some experience.  During my employment, I have continued to volunteer, which has resulted in more great leadership opportunities, including a position as a board chair and nomination to be a commissioner.

 10. Be real and positive.  The interview is not just about them deciding if they like you; it is also about you deciding if you like them!  Use this as the opportunity to prevent getting into a bad relationship.  Look at non-selection as a chance to re-evaluate what you are and what you want.  If you come into the interview exhausted and beaten by repeated rejection, I will not be interested.

The Solution to All Your Recruiting Bottlenecks Starts with Your HR Technology

By Jessica Miller-Merrell

Recruiting and hiring remains the number one focus for your CEO and a continued struggle for current recruiting teams. I’m here to tell you the fault isn’t your recruiters. They are smiling and dialing and searching and sourcing the web looking for passive candidates. The failure is in the technology you are using to recruit, distribute and fill your job openings.

Since I first started recruiting in 2001, not much has really changed. Our applicant tracking systems haven’t evolved. They are still for storing electronic resumes and online applications for the purposes of compliance. These HR technologies aren’t innovating the recruiting process. In fact, they are doing the opposite. The technologies designed in the 1990’s are hurting our recruitment efforts and sourcing of the best talent. Outdated technology limited by an antiquated applicant tracking system offers nothing but a roadblock to finding those purple squirrels.

The technology, not your recruiters, is the main reason your team is failing.
A recent Aberdeen report lists the top talent acquisition pressure as shortage of critical skills in hiring and recruiting. Seventy-seven percent of surveyed companies listed a critical shortage as a key driver in their human capital activities. And by critical skills shortage, I don’t mean your recruiters’ but the outdated technology and systems you are using to find talent. It’s like running a 100-meter dash wish a potato sack or tied to a partner like a three-legged race.

Something has to change.
Companies who want competitive advantage must recognize the need for improved technology systems that will acquire the human capital required for success in today’s marketplace.

Recruiters who understand the need for new systems and platforms to properly mine the talent pool are the ones who are searching for solutions. However, often companies reward and celebrate the risk-averse instead of realizing the value and promoting those recruiters, HR and staffing innovators who are taking risks to truly step out of the box and seek new strategies to acquire the hidden gems from the talent pool.

With the plethora of options available, there has never been a better time for companies to invest in recruitment technology with a system that will leverage the opportunity to hire, engage and recruit a savvy and fast moving group of job seekers who are eager to work at your company.

What are the key factors that companies and recruiters are seeking when they look for new solutions in HR technology? The Aberdeen Group report identified four areas of need that organizations are expecting as they consider innovative technology for their recruiting needs (See Figure 2). These are mobile, talent communities, analytics and social integration.

If companies want to maintain their competitive advantage and recruit top tier talent, they must implement new technology that will be mobile-ready, manage the talent communities well, provide customized reporting and tracking and integrate social capabilities. After all, these are the sweet spots for any successful purple squirrel finding recruiter. Take away the capability to properly drive these key areas of need in the recruitment process and you are limiting your HR team to a pool of Fred Flinstone job seekers.

Would you agree that these areas are the top priorities for you as you search for solutions to update your recruitment technology?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s is the Chief Blogger & Founder of Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @jmillermerrell. 

Guy Kawasaki joins Canva: The art of the continuous start

By Marylene Delbourg-Delphis

My friend Guy Kawasaki announced to me that he had accepted the chief evangelist position at Australian startup Canva. This young company wants to create a "a new world of design" and made its stealthy debut a few months ago by landing $3M in seed money from prominent Silicon Valley VCs and celebrities. And now, with Guy on their team, it's really on the worldwide stage.

Kudos to Canva for bringing Guy in. Yes, nobody is too famous not to be asked to join a startup. The founders, Melanie Perkins (CEO) and Cliff Obrecht, are both gutsy and logical. "Peggy Fitzpatrick brought the company to my attention, and she showed me why its service is so useful. There are some blog posts that are very difficult to illustrate with a picture because of the complexity of the concept or copyright issues of using a picture from the post. Canva solves this problem," Guy said. Since Guy was an enthusiastic user, Melanie and Cliff simply asked him to join. Brilliant entrepreneurs are brilliant recruiters. Period.

Was it hard to convince Guy? No. Having known Guy for... over twenty-five years, I know that he is not a diva and will never be. "From the time of first contact to the time we had a deal, it was three weeks. I met Melanie and Cliff simultaneously," Guy noted. It's a short time. But why should it be long? For Guy:

It's all about meaning. It's the best reason to create a company, product or service, and the best reason to join a team. "I love the democratizing of things so that people without power, pedigree and money have more opportunities. At Apple, we democratized computers. I admire that Google democratized information and that eBay democratized commerce. With my self-publishing book and efforts, I helped to democratize writing. Canva gives me the opportunity to democratize one more sector, design, because it enables people to create amazingly simple graphic design. If you think about it, there are so many circumstances where it’s hard to make great graphics: eBay ads, Etsy stores, posts and profile photos for every social-media service, IAB ads, Facebook ads, presentations, business cards, email graphics… there’s a lot of ways to use Canva, just like there are a lot of ways to use a Macintosh."

It's all about building a strong company with focused people. Guy's due diligence was straightforward: "We had a few Skype chats, a dozen or so emails and two face-to-face meetings. They passed all the tests that I threw at them:

• What kind of option plan do you have? Answer: standard Silicon Valley deal: four year vesting. Check!
• Who is your lawyer? Answer: Orrick in Menlo Park. Check!
• Can Peg and I do your social media? Answer: Yes, we'd love you to? Check!

... And he was quickly impressed with the practical, no-nonsense approach of Canva’s team: “I introduced them to a huge potential partner. This partner suggested that the first step be creating a Canva app and putting it in its app directory. Melanie did not respond to the company anything along the lines of ‘we’re looking for a more strategic relationship.’ Rather, she said that she understands and that creating an app for its directory was a very good first step. Let’s just say that most Silicon Valley CEOs would have copped a very different attitude.

A couple of days ago, I suggested changes to the text on the Canva website. After two rounds of suggestions, Melanie gave me a password to edit the website directly. Some of the companies I’ve worked with completely ignored my suggestions. For a year, I asked one to let me make social-media posts on its behalf and never got permission."

Guy is the famous author of twelve books, all basically revolving about entrepreneurship and the art of changing the world for the better. What I like about his decision is this: He talks the talk and walks the walk. Guy is not an accidental entrepreneur in the sole business of lecturing other entrepreneurs or some milquetoast afraid to go for anything new because what he has accomplished is great.

He is jumping into the fray once again: "No more ‘punditry’ and ‘expert advice.’ This job is about ‘doing,’ not ‘advising,’ he adds. My guess is that this alone will make his public speaking even more desirable... How many experts exhibit this type of personal leadership? Great careers are not a linear path, but rather a continuous re-invention of oneself with an ability to check one’s ego and pre-conceived notions of greatness at the door. Add to all this something truly extraordinary about Guy's new move: He is going to work for a woman who is half his age. Only a truly “mensch” can do this.

Take action!

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