Giving Thanks
‘Tis the season to think about the things for which we are thankful.
We don’t do this nearly enough at work. If I could be so bold as to suggest a few items to put at the top of your to do list. Think about your team and coworkers. Jot a few notes about what they are good at and what you want to learn from them and then tell them.
They don’t all have to be big things, but they have to be heartfelt.
People want to be appreciated for what they bring to the table. A few genuine words and knowing that you respect their skills enough to ask them to teach you something can be a powerful motivator.
Happy Thanksgiving.
A Tale of Two Job Postings: Burger King vs. Murder Burger
A hat tip to my friend Chris in New Zealand for passing along the job posting for a new burger place opening near their house. It got me thinking. We want to hire extraordinary people and yet if you removed the names of most companies from the masthead you’d be hard pressed to differentiate one job post from another.
A tale of the tape comparison for identical jobs at two different burger joints. The first is from Burger King, the second from the aforementioned burger slingers in New Zealand called Murder Burger (yep, seriously).
Burger King Team Member
If you’re ready for a job that sizzles with potential, you’re ready for BURGER KING®!
BURGER KING® sells the best fire-grilled hamburgers in the world. We are looking for Team Members who are motivated, team oriented, friendly, dependable and driven to providing excellent guest service!
Tell us more about you and why you think you would make a great addition to our winning team.
Murder Burger Team Member
Murder Burger Job Description
Before we break it down, I know it’s killing you. I had to look it up too. A ‘P addict’ is Kiwi slang for a meth-head.
With that out of the way, if you were a student which place would you rather work? I think the Murder Burger (great name which only adds to the allure) ad is phenomenal for a few reasons:
- This goes without saying, but it’s completely unique, honest and refreshing.
- It demonstrates what the applicant may potentially get out of the job (sense of community and fun) rather than stating what the company ‘needs.’ Didn’t we learn in third grade to ‘show, don’t tell.’
- It is calling for smart, fun people that will create a distinctive environment and recognizes that skills (used loosely here) can be taught but fit cannot. Which is more likely to pull in a certain ‘type’ of person who can think for themselves and relate to their coworkers and clientele?
- Murder Burger recognizes that this is a job and doesn’t oversell or over-hype with obviously false claims (a career path that ‘sizzles with potential’…seriously?). You’re still flipping burgers after all. Tangent alert: Note to HR people and marketers alike – exclamation points do NOT make things more exciting. Please, never ever ever use them!!! If you have a gun to your head and you absolutely must then one is sufficient especially if you’re older than 17, male or you didn’t just get asked by your crush to the Sr. prom.
Yes We Can
“This is our moment. This is our time. …To reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one. While we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubt…we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of the people: Yes we can.”
-Barack Obama
We are at a crossroads in our country’s history. We have allowed divisive issues to define who we are and, in the name of freedom and false hope, have forsaken many of the pillars upon which our country was founded. But last night we took the first step down the very long road to reclaiming the soul of our country.
That journey won’t be easy and there will be missteps. But we will not be making it blindly. Or alone. We have walked this path before, we’ve merely forgotten.
And now we have somebody who can inspire us to lift our foot when we are tired. To overcome when we meet obstacles. And to help our neighbor when they cannot go on. For this is a collective race, not an individual one.
While we are mired in war, on the brink of environmental disaster and have a rapidly collapsing financial system we must still take the next step. We must come back together.
To solve these problems we must to collectively believe again. To work together again.
This election had nothing to do with experience. Or policy. It was about finding the right leader. Finding the person who could inspire a nation.
And last night was more than breaking racial barriers. It was more than engaging a generation just now coming of age.
It was about restoring America as a beacon of hope for people the world around. And particularly for everyone of us living under the fifty-starred flag charged with keeping the lamp lit.
For without hope, success means nothing. Without hope we are merely individuals. And without hope we leave our children and their children nothing.
Hope can unite us and can make us a collective once again. Today we take the first step away from being 300 million individuals fighting for our share and the first step toward being the united America that has overcome every challenge put in front of us.
On September 12th, 2001 we bonded. We vowed to remember that feeling. That sense of purpose. We were reminded of what mattered and the American Dream was reinvigorated. We realized the American Dream wasn’t about accumulating wealth or a house or a bigger SUV. Nor was it about living an easy, comfortable life.
In fact, the American Dream isn’t really a dream at all. It is a way of thinking.
The American Dream is about making ourselves better people. The better people we see in our dreams.
Rooted in that is the belief that merit triumphs. That you can’t keep a good man or woman or country down. And that standing on the shoulders of men does not make one a giant.
The American Dream is hope.
And yet, that feeling slipped from our grasp. That feeling and our bonds were rooted in the tenuous emotions of fear and uncertainty. Two emotions with which our country has little collective experience dealing. And it tore us apart.
The last decade has been difficult. The challenges we now face are enormous. But this election showed that millions of people are ready, willing and able to get behind something. To take a stand and believe in the American Dream and the country they love once again.
Today, November 5th, is a lot like September 12th. We again have a collective notion of what hope feels like. We have the clarity of vision that comes from focusing on what it takes to be the better people we see in our dreams.
Most importantly, we now have a leader who can remind us of this feeling, of the better us and who will enable us to begin to live again the American Dream.
This time that feeling and our bonds are rooted in hope and optimism. Two emotions that are inextricably woven into the our social fabric. This time we are focused on what is possible, not what is scary. This time, I hope, it is here to stay.
Remember this feeling. This moment. For this is the moment when we rediscovered who we are.
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Update: Consider subscribing to the Office of the new President’s blog.
Getting Unstuck
There are times when you’re stuck. You’re in a rut, your creative juices flow like lava and you feel boxed in. Financial burdens weigh on you and you don’t see all the possibilities that lie in front of the professional you.
Been there. It’s not fun.
You lose confidence and lack motivation. In these situations you have to do something radical.
After parting ways with my former employer, I realized that I had been allowing myself to be defined by others. I was listening to them when I applied for jobs or completed projects or brainstormed ideas.
Redefining the rules of the game.
Once I had gone I started thinking of all the things that I could be and do. If I wanted to start plumbing I could learn the trade. The difference was I started believing in it again. I stopped letting people tell me what I was (and wasn’t).
Being honest with yourself about what you want.
Figuring out what you really want is damn hard. But if you can be honest and admit the ego needs to be satisfied and that you have ambitions that lie beyond the point of modesty then you’ll be a bit closer to getting to the heart of the matter.
Getting out of your own way.
Let something other than yourself stop you. Just keep going, taking one step at a time until you reach a real brick wall. An obstacle that forces you to go around or turn around. You’ll never know the limit unless you let yourself hit it.
