Love at First Sight

Dear Corporate Friend,

Energy – the force that governs the universe. Weather we want to accept it or not, energy dictates everything. You can call it however you want, there are many names you can give it…karma…good/bad luck. Basically the same energy that you send out into the universe will come back to you in various shapes and sizes. Is that good or bad? I believe it’s neither and both…at the same time. It’s actually fair. It’s balance, equilibrium. Everything sums up to 0.

Weird topic right? And what does that have to do with the corporate world, you might ask. To that, I would say: bear with me for a bit more and you will understand.

Today I was inspired. I had a conversation with a great leader…one of those leaders that you just wish there were more of. I’m sure that, by now, we have all seen at least one of those motivational pictures showcasing the difference between a manager and a leader and, unfortunately, I feel there are still many more managers than leaders out there. And that’s such a shame. So I am going to dispute this today. However, it’s also a great gift to find true leaders and have the chance to learn from them.

Now, one topic stood up for me in our conversation that I wanted to explore in this article, together with you, and that is: the energy that is exchanged during any business relationship; starting from the moment of the interview, and going all the way up to the end of your time working together.

More often than not, many of us search for a job. A new role that could have x,y and z criteria. Where is the office? Is it hybrid or remote? What’s the compensation? Do they offer company cars?

While that is all fine and dandy, I believe we might be losing sight of one important factor: our compatibility with the respective manager, company, environment, team, etc.

To this point, when participating in an interview or a first conversation with a manager, did you ever have a “feeling”? Did you feel neutral or maybe that it might be a mismatch between your vision and values and theirs? Or perhaps you felt you were exactly on the same page and you just knew from the first moment that person is awesome and you would love working with them? I bet you did. When reflecting back to many of my past interviews and/or meet & greets, I realized I have always known from the beginning how I feel about a certain leader/manager. I couldn’t really put my finger on it. It was nothing in particular and everything at the same time. It was a gut feeling that working with them will be amazing or terrible.

Having this said, and considering the importance of the energy exchange in the universe, don’t we owe ourselves the chance to work in a suitable environment? It doesn’t mean that other environments are bad, it might just mean that they are not the best one for us.

Before starting this blog, I admit I was quite worried about what people will think. As an over-thinker myself, I natively spend lots of time evaluating every possible outcome before making a decision. In time, I got good at this so much so that the time spent is reduced and the process itself happens very quickly. But it still happens. So here I was, wanting to write, but holding back as I thought it might hinder my chances to get a new job in the future, in case the hiring manager would read something that they disagreed with. Or maybe it might hurt my work relationships as maybe a colleague would do the same.

And this is true. This will happen. It’s normal. However, just like the entire theme of this article, it’s neither good nor bad. It’s also both. In reality, it can be quite positive, if you think about it. This way, I have an additional tool to welcome in my environment only those people with like-minded values. Or for myself to walk into appropriate environments that will suit me. Sure, it might get me to miss out on a job or two. But am I really missing out though?

While we are on the topic of interviews, I also heard an amazing point from this leader that backs up the other side of things: the view of the hiring manager. Let’s call them “hiring biases”. Yes, I am sure some people will think of this term from a negative perspective but, in reality, I think it’s actually positive. So the example was that when interviewing a sales person, their main motivation for the job has to be money. Wow! This clicked in my mind right away. So true! A seller has to want more and more money in order to drive more and more sales. If a seller is content with the compensation obtained from selling 5 products, they might sell 6 or 7 but they will never aim to sell 1000. As a sales manager, you would want in your team sellers that are financially driven. Just like the main goal of any company is to make profits. Yea, sure…focus on people, customer, sustainability, etc …they’re all great. But without profits, there is no company.

I then realized I also have a hiring bias: I would expect that any manager mentions, as their main goal for wanting to be selected for a manager role, to support the team…to help them grow…to shelter and care for them. If they want the role for money or for any other purpose, in my view, they’re not right for the job.

So what happens then? Are these “biases” good or bad? Well, I think they might be both at the same time. Or none. All in all, we should always choose to look at things from a positive place if we want to attract positive energies into our life. Therefore, I encourage you to think of it as a good thing. If that is not the place for you, it’s good that you will get rejected for the role.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve. There is surely a proper place for everyone out there. You just have to be brave enough to find it and, along the way, to find people that you admire and look up to. People you can learn from. People that can influence your life for the better and you can influence theirs. Never think that only mentors can teach you something. I believe that anyone can teach us something…so even mentees teach mentors many lessons…directly or indirectly.

Bottom line, your perfect job is out there. Good luck in finding it! Or maybe you already have it. So congratulations!

And never forget…send out in the universe the kind of energy that you would like to receive in return…because you can be certain that sooner or later you will receive it!

From my cubicle to yours,

The D.