ChannelVision Sept-Oct 2017

By Bruce Wirt As a leader for more than 15 years, I’ve certainly had my share of struggles finding and keeping talent. So many candidates seem like a perfect fit, only to find out they’re better suited as a professional interviewer than they are at their job. Obviously, to get through the interview process candidates must be intelligent, articulate and quick on their feet with answers. But to perform the required daily tasks, those skills are missing one key element: Purpose. I have found that workers with me- diocre skills and a guiding purpose tend to perform much more effectively than those that would score off the charts on the IQ test. In other words, a driven and motivated professional is more valuable to me than a certified genius. Purpose is the single thing that drives all aspects of one’s career (and in many ways their life). Without it, getting out of bed to go to work in the morning is downright difficult. Without it, many people choose to take days off – whether literally or figuratively. A well-skilled, intelligent professional without purpose will mentally work 20 to 30 hours a week. Sure they’ll be present for 40 hours, but they’ll prob- ably spend more time texting, search- ing the internet and possibly even job searching than they will actually doing their job. Conversely, a very driven and purpose guided professional will not only give you more hours of full engage- ment, but they’ll do it with passion and zest. They are likely to be an inspiration to everyone around them, and they will be focused on success long after the end of their shift. When I interview, I use my own ver- sion of the success pyramid to guide the process. There are many versions of the success pyramid out there, and I’ve taken a bit from each of them while developing my own. This pyramid guides my leadership philosophy, and I emphasize it with my team constantly. You’ll notice in the illustration that pur- pose provides the pillars of the pyramid; without purpose, the pyramid would collapse. Anyone in the workforce must find their purpose first, and it will influ- ence every level of the pyramid. Pur- pose also can be called drive, because it’s the vehicle that will take you from the bottom of the pyramid to the top. At the foundation level of my pyra- mid is interest. I sometimes group inter- est and motivation together, but more recently I’ve chosen to give interest its own spot making up the foundation of the pyramid. Once someone finds pur- pose, they can begin to find a job that they are interested in. Those are the people we want on our teams. Being interested is truly foundational, because without it, employees will either work merely to collect a paycheck (doing only the minimum requirements) or will work until something better comes along. Re- member that it is unlikely for someone to be interested in their job or career without first finding their purpose. The next layer is motivation. Motiva- tion gets your employees out of bed in the morning; it helps prepare them for that big meeting, and it drives them to Hiring with Purpose A ny leader in business can simplify their job with one key phrase: Find good people and keep them happy and moti- vated. Sounds like a good formula on the surface, right? But what defines a “good” employee? Then, how do we take that individual and ensure that their lunch breaks aren’t spent interviewing for the next best position? channel management Channel Vision | September - October, 2017 66 Before you worry about building new skills, you must find your purpose in life. It is one of the pillars of your pyramid, and will guide everything else that you do. A career without purpose is destined for mediocrity