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Give to Get

Attended a wonderful dinner and conversation last night with some of the smartest, hardest-working, innovative people in the NYC advertising technology community last night.

One of the most fascinating aspects was to observe the networking. Dinner was followed by a moderated discussion of the industry, and with a room full of senior professionals and entrepreneurs who've grown or are growing the companies whose success will shape the industry itself, the opinions were deeply held and candidly expressed.

Afterwards, as we mingled and discussed the debate and got to know one another, I was struck by one participant, the most outspoken and forthright in his ambition to win big and define the industry on his company's terms. Terms at odds with several of his competitors in the room.

But in person he was charming, gracious, and seemed to put one thing ahead of all others, how he might be able to help you. And not consultative/sales help, investing social capital help. 

Now this individual was one of the most professionally successful in the room, and had already displayed a very healthy competitive instinct. Watching him looking for ways to help, questioning, learning more to see if there was any way he could be useful, was for me a powerful lesson of "give to get" in action. 

I believe the smartest entrepreneurs and professionals use this concept in virtually every situation, excepting perhaps the witness box of a courtroom, because they know, or have learned from experience, who "wins" in these situations. When one person receives your help, that's one person getting some help from you, be it knowledge, an introduction, a bit of free consulting, whatever. But when you /give/ your help to fifty people, and 20% of them "convert" on returned favors, that's 10 lifts for you and/or your business. Those focused returns can be the difference between closing or losing the next deal, the next investment, or in our case, landing the next job.

Give to get. Follow the lead of countless winners in the game of life and help as many people as you can in as many ways as you can possibly think of, and you will get back far more than you will ever give away.

Three Job Development Tips

Gina Trapani has a good post on effective working that you can apply to your job development activities. 

Here are her suggestions, along with my thoughts on how they can be put into practice developing your next job.

Choose three important tasks to complete each day.

1. At least one significant networking-related activity: a phone call, a lunch, coffee.
   
2. At least one targeted job application per day. Writing the cover letter and mapping your experience to the position will keep you thinking about these details and provide ammunition for your next interview.
   
3. At least one psychically/emotionally rewarding activity. Read these tips for the upside to looking where your passions lead you in finding your next job. 

Turn off your email client.

Hmm, well this is a tough one for me. :) But I understand the interruption problem only too well. Personally, I find the "squeeze it in" approach of author Cory Doctorow more applicable to my own style. Of course sometimes you have to close down everything. In those moments I like to walk away from the computer entirely and work from paper.

Set up a weekly 20-minute meeting with yourself.

Assess the week past and prioritize the week upcoming. Over a longer term of a few weeks to a month, think about what's worked and what hasn't. If a particular event was productive then look for analogues. Having great conversations with old clients? Keep running down the rolodex. And remember again to make time to recharge the batteries in your personal life. 

The Interview: Question Tips

One of the areas I always feel most challenged by in an interview is the "Do you have any questions?" portion. In almost every situation, it is incumbent upon the interviewee to have a question, you do not look interested and/or maximally intelligent otherwise.

Of course every interview is situational so there are no specific scripts you can rely on, but here are three "question themes" you can take into an interview

What part of ________ is making this issue important for you now?

Intention: Get more background detail, firm up your understanding of the high-level motivation for the position. Example:

"So is this team expansion driven entirely by your recent growth or are you reacting to a recent competitive development?"

Near-term/long-term, how do the priorities break down?

Intention: Understanding what matters when you land at the desk and down the road. This depends on the presentation of the position up to that point. Example:

"I understand you are addressing A, B, and C in the near-term, and that D is your long-term goal. Who else is looking at B in the near term, or do I own that issue entirely?"

Has the company dealt with a similar issue in the past?

Intention: Is this a new strategy in response to a new issue, or are you being hired to manage a validated program?

"Where are you looking for any innovative thinking to be a focus, in creating the solution or executing the process?"

Again, these need to be tailored to the situation and your approach and language, but I've found them to be useful reminders that keep me on the lookout during an interview, and generally lead to a more detailed/pointed question during the follow-up.

What about you? Have any "question cues" that you rely on? Please comment and share.