How to Be a Successful Business Leader Instead of a Turkey this Thanksgiving

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As our Canadian Thanksgiving is next week (I know our neighbors in the States don’t celebrate for some time yet), I thought it appropriate to give thanks to you – our dedicated and loyal followers with my top five leadership tips.

Don’t be a turkey this holiday season, be the leader your people want to impress and follow, by deploying these tidbits in your business.

1. Open Doors Create Open Communications

The biggest challenge in every office is getting everyone to simply talk to each other. Everyone from the janitor to the CEO gets so caught up in their own thing, they fail to take – no – make – time to talk to others.

Your door should always be open – except when you’re in a meeting or really can’t be disturbed – so that your teams feel comfortable approaching you when they want.

Leaders that sit behind closed and locked doors shut out their people, and remember, everyone follows your lead. If you are a closed mind, your teams will be closed minds too.

And you don’t want that – so always keep your door open.

2. Create an Open Dialogue with Your Teams

Building on the previous tip, having an open door is just part of the communications solution, as the leader, you have to set the example and the tone. TELL every single person you work with – whether they report to you or not – that your door is always open. Invite everyone you work with to come and see you for anything – no matter how silly or small.

Encourage your people to be just as approachable with each other. Reward those who follow through, and demonstrate their openness to other team members. Mentor those that aren't being open, they may be shy, or just need a little inspiration to get going.

3. Get Out of Your Office

Last one on communications – I promise! Having an open door policy and encouraging people to be approachable again is only part of the communications solution. You need to get out of your office and make cubicle visits.

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Throughout the week, randomly walk amongst your team members, asking them how they are. Ask them about their work. Tell them you are here to help – ask how you can help them – then do whatever you can to help.

Be it assigning another resource to a project, re-evaluating a project's budget, even rolling up your sleeves and taking on some of the work – that’ll really impress your team, because it’ll show them how helpful you are, and that you really are in their corner.

4. Reward Don’t Punish

To err is to be human, we all make mistakes. The best leaders reward those who do good, the poor leaders punish those who don’t.

When I worked for American Express, our leader would publicly humiliate, chastise, and ridicule anyone that screwed up during our project meetings. She was demeaning and cruel, and everyone feared and hated her.

No one gave her their best effort, and the projects – and ultimately the company – suffered because of it.

Don’t be a tyrant and a bully like my former vice-president at Amex

.

Even you make mistakes – yes you do.

How would you like it if someone yelled, cursed, hissed, and angrily stared you down publicly in a room of 50 or more of your co-workers?

Sometimes, I swear I saw gobs of spit spewing out of that horrid American Express leader. How she got to be in charge of anything bigger than a broom closet, for the third largest credit card company in the world, is beyond me . . .

Reward those who do amazing, wonderful things.

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Reward those that do good too – everyone should be made to feel successful and on the right track – no matter how big or small their contribution is to your team.

And when someone messes up, don’t get your up against the wall and punish them. The best leaders teach, instruct and inspire their staff to do good. Show them how they can do better, and guide them through it.

5. Share the Spotlight with Your Team

At a party full of people, there is always that one person that naturally attracts others to him or her. They are the ones making everyone laugh and smile. They are the ones telling the greatest stories, getting into the best conversations, having the biggest laughs, the most smiles. They own that room, even if they aren’t the host.

Ever wonder how that one person somehow manages to attract everyone?

Here’s the secret – although they appear to be the centre of attention, actually they aren’t. They are sharing the spotlight with everyone around them.

They laugh and smile invitingly to everyone that is in on the joke. They are extremely observant, and draw people in by noticing the little things about those around them, and then showing a genuine interest in those little things.

It’s like they bring their own spotlight, stand in the middle, and anyone that walks by, they engage on such a personal level, that passersby naturally wander into the spotlight, and share in its warm glow.

Share the spotlight with your team. Be the person that everyone wants to be around, by simply being engaging, inviting, interesting, and above all else – genuinely interested in everyone around you.

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People respond when you show a genuine interest in them and their well-being.

Combine that interest, affection and sense of fun with the other tips above, and whether the people on your team stay with you forever, or move on in their career, they’ll always fondly think of you as the best boss they ever had.

As a leader, you want that. You want that bad.

Why Millennial’s Can’t Get a Job? Here’s a Hint: TXT MSG

Wrap your big brain around this . . .

Out of the hundreds of resumes people send you for a current job posting, you finally narrow down 10 really good ones, so you call them.

You get voicemail. Understandable, they don’t recognize your number. So you leave a warm and polite message, something like:

Hi John, this is Jordan Green at Blurrv Media Inc., I’m calling about a resume you sent us in regards to the Account Manager job. I was impressed with your resume, and wanted to chat with you about the company, the job and learn about you in the process. Please call me at . . . thank you.

I go about my day. No call back. Next day – no call back. DAYS later – still nothing.

Less than 10 percent of the people who send me resumes to the jobs we have posted are calling back.

Then it dawned on me, I remember reading several articles about how people under 30 don’t talk on the phone anymore. They text, instant message, even use it to emphasize key points when gesturing in a restaurant – but they don’t TALK anymore.

“Every time I see my voicemail icon pop up, I think, oh God, who died?” said one young person in one of the reports I read.

So, I decided to try an experiment. Instead of calling people who sent me a resume, I sent a short text message:

Thx for the CV. If u r still looking for work, please call me at this # and we can discuss.

(I even used texting slang. So unprofessional! I know!)

EVERYONE I texted called back. Well, okay, one person texted me back:

Yeah, Im still uneployed. Who is this?

(I even used her txting slang. So unprofessional! She’ll be looking 4work 4ver!)

Upon finally connecting voice with the rest, I’d ask: Did you get my voicemail?

They all said something along the lines of: “Oh, I never check my messages.”

One person admitted that when her voicemail gets full, she just deletes them without listening to them first.

The idea, as ridiculous as it was, to text potential job candidates, because they weren’t checking their messages, came to me because I received a text in regards to a message I had left on a prospect’s voicemail:

Hi, I just got a call frm this numb. If u r a telemarketer, DO NOT CALL BACK. Otherwise, what do you want?

(I even used her rude, unprofessional tone of voice. I know – who’d want to hire her EVER?)

I think our politicians can stop promising job creation, and focus their lies – I mean their campaign pitches – on more productive avenues.

I’ve finally figured out why the under 30 crowd can’t find work.

They only text message. Well, they do a lot more than that on their mobile devices, from snapping self-absorbed pictures of themselves (selfies) to surfing the net, to listening to music.

They just don't talk on the thing, or check it's messages.

(How do they expect to get a job if they don’t answer the phone?)

That’s a very good question.

My answer – wait – let me text it to you:

They prolly dnt farther ahead than their current txt msg convo.

What?

I said, they probably don’t think farther ahead than their current text message conversation.

It’s so unprofessional to text someone that sent you a resume in confidence.

It’d be like a woman sending her boyfriend a romantic text message while his unknowing wife is using his phone – nothing good can come from this.

And nothing good can come from a generation that can’t communicate.

Not that texting isn’t a FORM of communications, it’s just the wrong one for landing a job.

Part of the reason employers want to TALK ON THE PHONE as a point of first contact is to evaluate a potential employee’s communications skills, and get a sense for who they are.

We want to see how they express themselves, get a sense of their personality, their character and so much more than you could ever get from a text message, regardless of how many emoticons you toss in.

Not that condensing one’s thoughts into short snappy sentences isn’t a skill.

But I’m sure even the staff at Twitter needs to be able to use more than 140 characters to do their jobs, because if they didn’t, that company would have closed it’s doors and gone belly-up by now.

So, if you’re under 30, looking for work, and wondering why you haven’t been getting called back, perhaps you should LISTEN to your messages BEFORE deleting them.

(I knw, makes sense! So clear. So concise. Common sense? Too bad ppl -30 dnt this way.)

Life Lessons from an Entrepreneur – Work Can Wait – It Really Can

I’ve always been big on promoting and encouraging a work environment with an even work-life balance.

If all you do is work, and nothing else, although you may get an ‘A’ for effort, eventually you’ll burn out. And who wants to work with someone that doesn’t have a life outside of work?

After years in the corporate world, now that I’m doing my own thing and running my own show, I still have problems living up to my own work-life balance ethic.

As I write this, it is Tuesday evening, a little past 6pm. I’ve been working straight since 9am. Well, okay, not quite – I took about 10 minutes to go to the corner pizza place and grab a couple of slices for lunch.

But I rushed back to my desk, and began chomping as I worked. Napkins and wet naps are every office worker’s savior.

I know – I’m your classic over achiever. And like most classic over achievers, I’ll probably end up in the hospital with a coronary.

I blame Mother Nature for today’s post. After a brutal winter, and not much of a spring so far, as the close of the working day came, the sun began to shine, and I looked out my window and saw some kids kicking a ball to each other as they scooted past.

As I watched the kids kick on past, the streets and sidewalks filled with people leaving their offices for their families and friends. I began thinking about work-life balance.

Especially, as I heard the hum of my computer, almost begging me to come back and finish the never-ending work that needs to be done.

Even as I type this, Mother Nature continues her torture. Now the streets and sidewalks are filled with people doing things other than work.

Some guy just walked by with his dog, a handful of joggers strode past, and cute couples are snuggling down the street for a night on the town.

Meanwhile, I am typing at my computer, surrounded by my papers, my phones, my work.

Work can wait – it really can.

End of the day, whatever isn’t done, can be finished tomorrow.

“Go home,” I’d tell myself, if I were on my team. “You’re no good to us if you’re burnt out. Go home.”

So why am I still sitting across from the glow of my computer screen, hammering out this piece like there is no tomorrow?

I enjoy what I do, perhaps too much. Perhaps that’s the problem?

Though I also enjoy listening to and watching podcasts, catching up with friends, and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine which Mother Nature continues to flaunt in my face.

Mother Nature may be wise.

Instead of taunting and tormenting me, perhaps she’s trying to lure me away from my work, so that I don’t burn out, and become a dreary tired drone.

Wouldn’t that be ironic?

Most people start businesses for professional and personal freedom. They take the leap necessary to become an entrepreneur, so that they can work the hours they want, earn the money they want, and live the life outside of work they’ve always wanted.

However, it’s now 6:18pm and I’m still on my butt, typing away.

While the sun is getting low in the night’s sky. Eventually, it will be dark.

Don’t worry – I won’t sleep at the office.

I’m done for today.

That’s it!

I’m out of here.

I’m about to listen to my own advice, and get some fresh air and sunshine.

Because work can wait – it really can.

ATTACKED! How a Drunken Stoned Homeless Man and a Job Seeker Made My Week Hell

I’m certainly glad last week is history, because it was a hell of a week – or rather a week of hell.

It started off well, the usual business of running a business. But towards the end of the week, I was lucky to get out with my life.

Thursday evening I was in the poor, rundown, Yonge and College street area of Toronto for the Wildsound Film Festival. It’s a great little unknown gem of a film fest, where five to six independently produced short films from around the world are shown in one night, and everyone attending gets to participate in the discussions about the films.

In keeping with the ambiance of the magic of movie making, the Wildsound Film Festival takes place in one of the oldest movie houses in Toronto – the Carlton Cinemas. It’s a historic building, one of the first movie theatres in the city, and it’s got a lot of amazing character, with much of it’s original architectural wooden rustic design and charm.

There are also historic movie posters, and wonderful works of art by local artists on display, reminding you of what it was like to watch a movie before the megaplexes of today, with their raked cinema seating, and sticky soda-pop-soaked floors.

Although the theatre shines as a beacon from a time long since gone, when going to the movies was an event, not just another night out, the surrounding neighborhood has become an urban slum.

There are always homeless people lying on the sewer grates and pan-handling passersby from just about every corner, as the crumbling infrastructure of low income subsidized apartments crashes into the skyline of the modernized recently built condos, both fighting for their equal space in a city with a hidden reality.

It’s a sad silent reality sweeping across Canada’s largest city – wealthy building and construction firms buy entire city blocks, while their executives “donate” to politician’s political campaigns, so that their requests to demolish the older, rental units and put up luxurious high-rise condos get passed.

Sure, residents of the rental units get first dibs on the new condos which replace their rental apartments – but think about it – if you could afford to buy a condo – wouldn’t you already be living in a condo? Those who rent can’t afford to buy, and so they end up being tossed out of their homes, so some greedy land developer can make a mint off of their prime real estate.

This problem gets worse, as the numbers of rental units falls, due to the increase in condos built.

As this sad silent reality has been going on for some time, the numbers of people homeless in Toronto has skyrocketed.

And that’s very evident from the horrors which I experienced last Thursday, as we stopped into a local McDonald’s to grab a quick bite before the film festival.

We were standing in line, undecided what to eat. So when our turn came in line, we did a Canadian thing, and politely let the person behind us go ahead, while we continued to ponder over the menu.

The person behind us thanked us, and practically fell over us, barely able to keep steady on his own two feet.

He was a black man, with scruffy dark hair, in jeans and a red jacket, dancing to some unheard beat in his own head. Though he wasn’t wearing earphones, and by his loud and vulgar language when he placed his order, indicated he wasn’t all there.

He acted like someone who feasted upon a recipe of drugs, booze, and who knows what else. And he continued to make a scene as he paid for his burger and fries entirely out of coins, probably from what he managed to cobble together from begging.

With his tray of greasy fast food, he went over to the condiments section, and took massive amounts of napkins, straws, and other things. Mumbling to himself, while dancing to the songs in his drug induced mind.

He freaked out those around him, and was repeatedly told by the staff to take a seat.

Eventually he did, right next to our table.

We quickly got up and moved to another table.

Usually, dinners out, even at a fast food restaurant, are times for enjoyable chit-chat. My poor girlfriend was so scared, she was wolfing down her burger and fries like it was her last meal.

I kept trying to re-assure her everything would be alright.

Then, the homeless druggy came over to our table, put his hand on my back, and thanked me for letting him ahead of us.

My girlfriend bolted to the door, and I tried to escape too – saying it wasn’t a big deal.

He wouldn’t take his arm off my back, despite me trying to get up. He told me he was homeless, and asked me if I had any change.

I told him I didn’t.

He didn’t believe me, said how hard it was to be on the street.

I took out my wallet, and showed him how empty it was – just the usual plastic.

He started pointing to my change compartment of my wallet, saying how that didn’t look empty. And that’s when I just got up, leaving whatever food I hadn’t eaten, and joined my girlfriend who was now almost on the other block outside.

She was shaking like I’ve never seen before. She grabbed hold of me, and pulled me with her, as her flight of fright took her in an almost run anywhere but near that crazy homeless man.

Eventually I managed to calm her down, and we made our way to the theatre and had a great time, sinking into the world of short films, and the engaging discussions.

But I’ll never forget the horrors of the homeless, especially as they scared the hell out of both of us.

And that wasn’t the end of my week of hell.

The next day, I met with a woman, probably in her twenties or early thirties, about a job. She was seeking employment, and we are looking for account managers to handle our advertising sales clients.

Her resume was interesting and read of someone with experience in the marketing world. Her initial attitude and interest caught my eye during our phone interview, and I thought she could apply her background to our advertising sales team.

However, all that changed when I met Seema Doad in person, and she gave me the third degree, challenging my company’s business model.

Hold on a sec . . . Seema, YOU are the one seeking employment from me, and yet YOU are challenging my company’s vision and direction?

Perhaps she was having a bad day and just unleashed her frustrations on the first person in her path?

Being an open, honest, and good-natured person, I attempted to answer her questions, but Seema Doad wouldn’t accept my answers, continuing to argue with me over my corporate vision, our business strategies and although she hadn’t any knowledge of our business plan, she continued to tell me it couldn’t be done.

I don’t want people to kiss my butt – I hate that – but I do expect anyone we hire to believe in our vision, our direction and to especially be respectful of everyone.

Seema, you don't believe in our vision, nor in our direction – and you certainly were not respectful of anyone in our meeting, arguing with the very person who could have offered you a real job.

And that's the kicker, because we always hear how employers force job candidates to do outrageous things to get a job. All I did, as the potential employer, was try to answer your questions, which you tossed back at me, in an angry hostile and very demeaning manner.

Although Seema, you may be in luck, I did see a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of that McDonald’s where the drunken drugged out homeless dude frequents. Just remember if you go off on one of your rants, to ask: “do you want fries with that?”

When Job Interviewees Go Postal on the One Holding the Keys to the Cubicle

We’ve all heard about job interviews that go off the rails, usually caused by potential employers asking things they shouldn’t and forcing job candidates to jump through outrageous hoops just for the possibility of an interview.

What about when a job interview becomes hell on Earth, because of a snippy job seeker?

Last week, a potential employee exploded at me, within the first 15-seconds of the interview. I hadn’t even got off a single question.

I began as I always do, introducing myself, thanking him for his time, outlining the objectives of our meeting, and just as I took a breath he interrupted me saying: “Look, I’ve been around the block a few times, let’s cut to the chase. I currently earn a six figure income, have people begging me to work for them, and really just want to know if this is a contract, if it’s salary-based, if there’s a commission, and when do I start?”

I was completely unsettled by this abrupt interruption, by someone who’s last position on their resume was dated June of 2012.

I hadn’t expected to run into someone working at some mystery company that isn’t listed on their resume, earning a “six figure income” for a job where the industry average is about $60K. 

Nor did I expect to be pushed into a corner by a hostile job seeker that has “been around the block” and has “people begging him to work for them.” Though he did ask when we’d hire him.

I understand looking for work is a precarious and fragile situation. Some may be on their last nickel and dimes literally, as their prolonged job hunt bleeds their bank accounts dry. Others may have gone through the horrendous downsizing that unfortunately has become the new norm, replaced by temporary contractors. They themselves may have fallen into the unstable temporary contractor world, where the only jobs they seem to get are the ones with a start date and an end date.

I understand how horrible all of those pressures are.

But I never, NEVER – EVER – would have anticipated that pressure would explode, unleashing the worst in people – at a time when people are trying to show their best.

I’m not new to hiring people, and I always like to start off introducing myself, the company, the role, and then move into the job candidate’s background. I don’t conduct interviews, I like to think of them as conversations. 

It’s not my management style to lock people in a room and demand action, I’ve always had an open door policy, where I encourage an atmosphere of collaboration and openness.

However, I might reconsider that open door policy, as this hostile job candidate wasn’t the only job seeker to attempt to hijack the interview.

Several others over the course of the week jumped off my traditional job interview course, demanding I hire them at outrageously high salaries, with benefits, because as one job seeker declared: “I’m sick and tired of working on contracts that don’t materialize into anything ever good.”

When I was a kid, growing up, I was taught to always go into a job interview with a freshly pressed suit and tie. I still remember my high school guidance counselor telling our class: “to make sure your socks are pulled up, your shoes are shiny, your hair is perfectly combed and you don’t have any stains on your perfectly white dress shirt.”

I was taught to show up early, give a firm handshake while looking the interviewer directly in the eye and to be respectful and polite at all times.

Back then, the notion of interrupting your potential boss before you even had the job was not even a thought in the most devious of delinquent minds.

Our world certainly has changed for the worse over the past few decades.

I blame recruitment firms, staffing agencies, and the corporate managers gullible enough to think recruitment firms are the messiah of their staffing needs.

Recruitment firms and staffing agencies go in with these slick presentations – I’ve seen them myself – telling employers how it’s not cost effective to hire people anymore. It makes more sense to hire a third-party company (the recruitment firm) to source “resources” (that’s how they refer to people) on a per project-basis.

My biggest problem with recruitment firms is they don’t care about the people resources they deploy. Which is understandable – they are a business, and a business’ primary interest is to make money.

However, they are in the business of supplying people to companies, so it’s ultimately not in their best interests to show such disregard for their primary product – people.

I’ve seen the end result this week – the people that have been shuffled in and out of the meat grinder of the recruitment firm’s temporary contracts become bitter, angry and disenfranchised with the world of work. Because they’ve been spun from contract, to contract, they no longer have any respect for those conducting job interviews.

Again, I get it. I understand the horrors of being bounced from company to company, department to department. One month having a decent pay cheque, the next you are flipping sofa pillows desperately looking for change to buy a loaf of bread as your bank account is negative.

However, I’ll never hire a hostile job candidate.

They don’t give me the respect which I expect everyone in my company to give each other.

And that’s the ultimate tragedy here, because chances are, the hostile job candidate that claimed he was making a six figure income is the guy sifting through his sofa, looking for change, because he’s been without a real job for a very long time.

Lost Your Job? Get Over It In These Five Stages – If You Want a New One

They say losing a job is just like losing a close friend or family member.

I never believed that, a job is not a friend or a family member – it’s a job. 

That is until I started networking and interviewing people for my team. I was reminded of this the other day.

I was talking with someone looking for another job, though he’s only been in his current role for less than six-months. So, naturally, I asked him why he was looking for work.

BIG MISTAKE

I always seem to make that mistake, though as an employer, it’s not a bad thing to know these things. It could be the company is going bust, has been sold and the new management has changed the direction and vision. Or it could be, as I painfully found out yesterday, this guy just wasn’t getting any satisfaction.

For the next ten-minutes, I had my ear chewed up and spit out, as this job seeker complained about how much money the company makes from his hard work, and how little he sees in return. He ranted on, and on, and on.

“Don’t they still advise people looking for work to never say anything negative about their current or past employers,” I thought to myself, as the guy continued his horror story.

I just kept quiet, and let him vent.

What else could I do?

Here’s some complete stranger, coughing up the spittle of spite and angst in his life.

I’m just glad it was over the phone, rather than in person. I hate spittle.

Though I’ve had that too.

I’ve sat across the table from someone I’ve just met moments before, go on a verbal assault of their current or past employer.

And again, I just sit and listen.

Just Let it Go

I realized in these, and other similar situations, that losing a job really is like losing a friend or member of the family. It’s part of the healing process we all go through when anything traumatic happens in our lives.

When we lose a job, a friend, or anything changes dramatically in our daily lives, we all go through the five stages of loss and grief:

1. Denial and Isolation

At first we protect ourselves from the loss, by blocking out the world and hiding from the reality of the situation. It’s a natural defense mechanism that helps us rationalize what happened. And that rationalization leads to the next level.

2. Anger

As we try to rationalize and come to grips with the loss, the pain re-emerges and as we are still not ready to move on, we’re still vulnerable. Because we no longer can deny the loss occurred, because we thought about it, we become angry.

This anger may be aimed at things (like your car, house, or a pillow), friends, family, or as in the case of the job seekers I’ve discussed, complete strangers, like me.

We logically know the thing or person we aim our anger at isn’t to blame, however our emotions run high, as our memories of the loss bring back the intense pain, which makes us more angry, and we need to release that anger.

The best course is to talk it out with someone who'll just listen. It helps to just get it out into the open and off your chest.

3. Bargaining

Eventually, as the anger subsides, we feel helpless, and still quite vulnerable. We try to regain control of our lives by 'thinking what if.'

What if I had worked harder on that last project?

What if I had only gone to the corporate holiday party?

What if I had only tried to be a better person?

Naturally, you don't have to try to be a better person, and there is nothing you can do now that you've already lost your job.

This is our mind's way of constantly rationalizing what happened, while looking for solutions to the problem. It's the lack of immediately available solutions that leads to the second last, yet hardest stage. 

4. Depression

This is the hardest hurdle to overcome for anyone going through these stages. Some people never fully get through their depression, which is the ultimate hardship, because if you don’t get past depression, you’ll never move on with your life.

There are actually two types of depression we go through during the loss of a job, a person, or anything close to us. The first is the actual reaction to the loss:

I don’t have a source of income.

I don’t have a job.

I don’t have a regular routine.

l'll never see my co-workers again.

What will I do now?
How will I survive?
What if I can't find work ever again?

This is often dealt with through talking it over with friends, family or a therapist, all of which offering support and encouragement that you’ll get another job and be in a better place soon.

The second form of depression is the more private and sometimes harder one to get through. It’s that little voice in our heads still trying to rationalize what happened, however at this point, we are now starting to also think towards the future and trying to figure out how to say good-bye to once was. 

Saying good-bye to a job isn’t easy. It’s not like you can just show up where you once worked and start shaking hands as you make your way out the building. 

Security!

Don't do that.

What you can do is WRITE. It helps to write out your thoughts and good-byes in a journal, or even a letter or an email – just don’t send that letter or email! This way, you can actually say good-bye to those you worked with, your boss, your co-workers, even the office pooch if there was one. Some even write a good-bye to their desk, their chair, their stack of papers and projects -- sounds silly -- but it does work.

YOU HAVE TO SAY GOOD-BYE.

That's the hardest part -- finally realizing that your life is different due to circumstances which may have completely been out of your control, yet you MUST SAY GOOD-BYE to the life you once had, or else you'll never move on to the final stage.

5. Acceptance

This is the breath of fresh air that suddenly appears out of nowhere. It’s like a light bulb suddenly ignited into brightness overhead, as you realize you are whole again, and ready to tackle the world. 

You’ve said your good-byes, got over your thoughts of denial, anger, bargaining and depression. You’re now ready to look for your next job – or maybe you’ve learned the hardships of relying on others for a pay cheque, and will take the bold step of becoming an entrepreneur?

Take it from someone that knows. Not just from interviewing potential job candidates, but even I have gone through all five stages.

We all do at some point in our lives. It's the natural course of dealing with a dramatic, often sudden and unpleasant loss in our lives -- be it the loss of a person, a pet, or a job.

And, after writing this, it got me thinking. There have been job interviews that I've blown by going off the handle as I was still going through the five stages of loss and grief while I looked for work while in the corporate world.

I learned my lessons of grief and acceptance, and about work too. It's far better to risk it all and be your own boss, than take the easy road and rely on someone else for a pay stub.

But that doesn't mean I'll never go through the five stages ever again -- that's just part of being human.

Struggling to Find Work? Don’t Flip-Flop Hop-Skip and Jump Your Title

I attend many social and business networking functions, and I’m always amazed and saddened by the number of people at these events out of work and looking for their next job.

A handful of years ago, I’d guess fewer than 10% of the attendees were unemployed. Now, it’s more like 80% are either unemployed, or severely underemployed.

What shocks and horrifies me more is the reason why so many people are struggling to find work.

As I go through the LinkedIn profiles and resumes sent to me, I see many have flip-flop hop-skipped and jumped from job to job, to job.

I’ve seen several LinkedIn profiles where each person has worked for no more than four months at any one employer.

Traditionally, a work history with such brief stints at any one company would be a big red flag. A warning beacon about a person unable to hold down a steady job.

Today, it is a sad sign of the new economy, as companies of all sizes hire on short-term project-based contracts, instead of thinking of the bigger long-term picture.

Want a career, with benefits, a decent salary, and job security? Don’t come to North America – we don’t have that here.

Gone are the days when companies of all sizes – of any size really – hire qualified people on staff.

Gone are the days when companies hire people period. Most companies these days don’t hire anyone, instead they just contract out their work to temporary staff

Temporary staff – AKA you -- are only paid for the hours you work, so any statutory holidays you must take (because the office is closed) or you voluntarily take (so you don’t burn out) are unpaid.

The temporary employment agency that recruited you tells you, there is occasional overtime. However, your “employer” (the agency’s client”) tells you that they don’t pay overtime, yet they expect you to put in those volunteer hours on your own dime.

There is no job security. Your contract can be terminated without any notice, rhyme or reason.

And you are constantly lead to the promised land, as both your temporary agency and their client tell you they love your work, and are considering hiring you on staff, with benefits.

That’ll never happen. They tell that to everyone. It keeps you motivated, and makes them appear to care about your well-being, which they don’t.

They didn’t put you on a temporary contract to try before they buy. Nope.

They put you and most of the other unfortunate hard working folks around you on temporary contracts, so that they can get rid of you.

And they will get rid of you.

You’ve probably already gone through this routine, which is why your resume flip-flops and hop-skip and jumps around so much.

Despite my own understanding of this new world of work, I’m still hesitant to hire someone that hasn’t held a job longer than a couple of years.

Perhaps I’m old fashioned in my aging years. However, a piece of me also knows that many of those titles are manufactured just because.

I know people who have created their own one-person consulting businesses. They tell me they are proud entrepreneurs. They’ll never work for anyone else, ever again.

Yet these very same people change their title on LinkedIn and probably on their resume, every time they land a new contract.

That’s not very entrepreneurial – in fact it reads just like everyone else looking for work, as they flip-flop hop skip and jump their titles.

What’s worse, is it shows how confused and desperate many have become. So much so, that they confuse creating their own job, with being hired on a temporary contract.

So long as you are on any form of employment contract with anyone, you are not an employee, nor are you an entrepreneur working for yourself.

Instead, you are a piece of paper, being filed, stamped, and stomped all over.

So long as you are on any temporary employment contract with anyone, you are no different than a stapler, or any other office resource.

And that’s the real problem with our new economy of temporary contracted out people. Because when you’re nothing more than a stapler, and another stapler comes along, willing to work for less than you, you’re suddenly out of work.

Yet you’ve shown your commitment and dedication by updating your social media profiles, your LinkedIn, your resume, maybe even your business cards.

Don’t Flip-Flop Hop-Skip and Jump Your Title unless you really are an entrepreneur and there isn’t anyone that can fire you but you.

Having a work history that changes every few months isn’t very professional, shows a lack of judgement on your part, and could end up costing you your dream job.

And this is coming from someone that understands the new world of temporary work, and goes through a lot of resumes and LinkedIn profiles as I build my business ventures.