Zig Zigler tells the story of two railroad workers. They both started at the same time. After over a decade, one is still laboriously laying track in the hot sun and the other has worked his way up to top management (in an air conditioned office). Zig points out that the difference was that one went to work for 5 bucks an hour. The other went to work for the railroad.
If you are looking for a job right now and building your resume, you might think about this anecdote. At the top of the page, where most resumes state the applicant’s employment objectives, a lot of people talk about how they want to fulfill their dream of becoming a great…let’s say…designer and go on to become an outstanding art director. The resumes that are particularly amusing are the ones that say the applicant wants to grow in their position so they can one day go off and start their own business. That’s a great selling point to any prospective employer.
The point is that if you happen to be unemployed, why is it all about you and your glorious career ambitions? Ambition is not bad, but why here and now? Why not have instead, as an immediate objective, to help your prospective employer to better fulfill the company’s brand promise to its customers? I guarantee that if you focus intensely, not just flippantly, on your potential employer’s brand and their customers’ needs, you will not only get hired, you will soon be promoted frequently. We talk to a lot of business leaders and that’s how they describe their early careers. They could care less — I am very serious here — about salary or benefits. They care about the Brand, and delivering it to the best of their ability. That attitude takes anyone to a leadership position and success, no matter how the cards play out. The true leader carries their brand brightly, just the same as the day they got the job in the shipping room.
Brand well and prosper!
Andy Cleary