I’ve been a fan of Tim Tebow since he was at the University of Florida. I cheered for him then, and I take great pleasure in cheering for him still — and not just because he is a Gator (like me), a Heisman trophy winner, and an all-around awesome guy. I cheer for him because while he was a winner in college, he’s a guy who isn’t “supposed” to win in the NFL — and yet he does. He’s the proverbial underdog that we all claim to want to see win. (Though popular opinion sure doesn’t seem to indicate that… but that’s a completely different article.)

So after the Denver Broncos’ record improved to 5-5 (4-1 with Tebow starting) with a win over the Jets this last Thursday, I was so pleased to read this fantastic article by my colleague, John Hollon about how Tebow is breaking the mold of what success and leadership is supposed to look like in the NFL.

Leadership, no matter what line of work you are currently in, doesn’t have to come in a certain package, a certain style, a certain look, or from a certain background. Hollon says,

“If you get locked into believing that a leader must look and act a certain way, or have a certain kind of demeanor and experience, you’ll miss out on the unconventional person (or style) who can be equally (if not more) successful for you.”

In order for this to happen, sometimes you have to change what you may not even realize is broken. Because it’s not. It’s just not as good as it could be.

The Experts Don’t Always Know Best

In Hollon’s article, he says that new leaders surprise us when they break the mold of what leadership and success are supposed to look like. And it’s often the experts who are the worst at determining what it should look like:

“The lesson of Tim Tebow is that the “experts” are frequently wrong about what works and that the unconventional often troubles us because it doesn’t square with our pre-determined notion of what leadership success looks like. If we aren’t willing to step back and challenge our preconceptions — really misconceptions about superior talent and how it manifests itself — we might miss seeing it standing right before our eyes.”

While the experts in this case have been bashing him since day 1 (and many continue to do so), Tebow continues to pursue his passion and work harder than anyone else to be successful. The truth is — expert opinion will not stop a winner from winning or a leader from pressing forth to more success.

Encouraging those on your team to pursue excellence no matter what obstacles they may face should be standard. Will your folks to win — don’t expect them to lose (and if you do, perhaps you should take a hard look at your own hiring practices). And sometimes this means having to be flexible in your organizational process in order to encourage and cultivate leaders.

If It Ain’t Broke… There’s Still Probably A Better Way

A few years ago, I wrote an article that I hoped would open some eyes to the idea that just because something isn’t ‘broken’ doesn’t mean it couldn’t use some improvements. Just because something works well now does not mean it couldn’t work even better with some changes. In that article I quoted Carmine Coyote, author of the now-discontinued blog called ‘Slow Leadership’:

“Change is more about letting go of old ideas than finding new ones. Most of the time, people are sufficiently happy with the way things are, so they see no need to change. Life may not be perfect, but it’s good enough; the effort and uncertainty change brings look too great to be worth it. That’s why the moments when you’re open to change are precious. Miss them and your life and growth goes back on indefinite hold. Seize them and you have moments of infinite preciousness, when your mind is open to new ideas and fresh perspectives.”

In your line of work, in your office, or in your business, are there things that are sort of ‘good enough,’ but not exceptional? Jim Collins wrote an excellent book called “Good To Great” that discusses this very type of situation. The Broncos saw the value in Tebow, even though his style didn’t seem to ‘fit’ into the NFL’s established system of successful quarterbacking. So in order to accommodate the leadership they knew he would bring, they willingly changed their existing system to fit his strengths, going 180 degrees in the opposite direction of decades of football strategy that had worked.

When’s the last time you made changes to the way you manage your team or your business to accommodate the strengths of a new leader on your team, instead of requiring that they change everything that has made them successful to conform to your model?

Making Changes Isn’t Always Pretty

The very nature of change means that things are going to be different. And different isn’t always beautiful — but it is necessary for progress. Whether you’re a Tebow fan or not, you cannot deny that his wins are quite often ugly. Often they are heavily accomplished by the defense, as well. But pretty or not, they are still tick marks in the “W” column.

Winning often means making unpopular choices. It often means risking hurt feelings and assignment adjustments. It may even mean taking on more work than usual for a period of time in order to refine new ways of doing things. In our business, it may mean taking more responsibility for things that were previously outside of your scope of work in order to partner with others on your team as a more cohesive unit.

Regardless of how you look at it, there is no cookie-cutter mold for leadership — sometimes it looks exactly like what we’d expect. Other times it’s ugly, yet determined to win. And sometimes, it’s just downright unconventional, against all odds, and still inspires and brings forth the best in everyone. Make sure you can be open to make changes when it shows up in your organization.

I was taught long ago that “whatever you focus on expands,” and I wish I could credit the teacher. You have probably all heard something similar in the past. In this article I am going to do my best to put this concept into practical terms for the recruiting industry.

Based on many conversations and my own personal observations, the recruiting industry is coming back nicely. Many of my clients had their best quarter, not in years, but EVER! Companies are beginning to re-invest in their growth and operations. However, some recruiters are still stuck in “fear” mode and are focusing on scarcity right now, still thinking the business is in recession mode.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to see if you are in fear/scarcity mode:

• Are you overly focused on trying to reduce expenses?
• Are you worried about your business in 2011?
• Are you worried about positions being frozen or cancelled?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these, you are in danger of making them true for you! You see, what you focus on expands. If you answered yes, you are at some level focusing on business evaporating. This is probably not a conscious choice, but your mind has activated its objective-seeking sensors and is sabotaging your work.

You might be thinking “Mike’s losing it,” but let me ask you – have you ever thought about losing weight only to gain more? Have you ever focused on reducing debt only to go deeper into debt?

Psychologists have proven the subconscious mind can’t distinguish the word “reduce” or “eliminate” from the word after it. The subconscious focuses on the word as a concept, so in the above example, it focuses on “weight” and “debt.” Since this is what the mind is focused on, it expands and we tend to get more of both.

It is much harder to increase revenues and profits when you are focused on minimizing expenses. It is hard to sound great, consultative, and confidant with your prospects when you are worried about hiring freezes, a lack of openings, and so forth.  My experience from earlier in my career is that when I was worried and focused on surviving, I sounded desperate! Desperate recruiters are given the assignments everyone else is given; the low fee, multiple recruiter positions because that recruiter unknowingly commoditized themselves as being one of the herd, one of the vast field of mediocre performers at best.

Here is the remedy:

1. Focus on the concepts/words revenues, placements, profits, and commissions. Do you see how these words are one-hundred-eighty degrees different from “expenses” and “freezes?” This may appear subtle to you, but you are discounting the power of your subconscious to change its focus on your behalf!
2. Write out specifically what “success” would look like in your firm or on your recruiting desk. Write in graphic detail and avoid the negative trigger words/concepts I mentioned above.
3. Write out in graphic detail what this success would allow for you in your LIFE. A common problem many people have when they set goals for higher earnings and/or a larger office is that the benefits to them in their lives are not clear at all. Many have not thought this through clearly enough to create a vivid picture for themselves of what their own personal definition of success looks like. Sure they know they will be “happier,” but they are not clear on EXACTLY how. Each person is different and when I am able to “pull this out of them” I witness significantly higher levels of execution of their plans. More importantly I witness significantly higher levels of self satisfaction and excitement about their work.
4. Define the activities needed to GUARANTEE the achievement of number 2 above. Avoid statements that aren’t specific like “make more calls”, “work harder”, “start earlier”, etc. How many more interviews do you need to arrange? How many more job orders do you need to take?
5. Define who you have to “become” to achieve what you want. You see, we rarely get what we want in life; we DO often get what we are every day on a consistent basis. So, do you need to become a better business owner/leader? A better marketer of your services? A better developer of talent? What skills do you have to develop to become this person? Make sure you inventory them and put an action plan together to find the resources to invest in yourself to get you there!

I challenge you to study the five points above; there is a LOT in those very few words. All five points get you focused on outcomes most recruiters and managers want to expand. Don’t be lazy here and just read this. Take some action. Write some notes for each of the points.

Even if you only invest 30 minutes in this exercise and write out some beginning ideas, you have begun the process of changing your focus. If you don’t write another sentence for the rest of the year but simply read your notes occasionally from this 30-minute exercise, you will increase your focus on these concepts… and what you focus on will expand!

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This article is from the February 2011 print Fordyce Letter. To subscribe and receive a monthly print issue, please go to our Subscription Services page.

When I first accepted my recruiter “trainee” position in November of 1987, I was hired by a CPA/MBA Deloitte “Big 8” audit manager who had a then-recent position as a financial officer of a W.R. Grace division. Being somewhat naïve, along with possessing an insatiable appetite to savor success and affluence, I actually went on doing what I was told I could do during my first two years and savored initial success.

Then disaster struck in the form of the 1990-1992 Savings and Loan recession. We did not know what exactly was happening at the time however. While I still made placements during the worst of this cycle, it required more work than I had needed to perform while training and for less money. I pursued necessary new clients with ferocity and managed to battle my way through. The experience knocked some of the cocky confidence out from me. But by 1994-1995 I was back sailing the high seas and hitting figures and results that paled my initial years of success by comparison.

Then came the Asian market meltdown of 1997 which affected about a third of my clients either directly or indirectly. I got back in the saddle and rode through 1998–2000 until the dotcom bust, which was further pummeled into the ground by post-September 11^th fears which sent shudders through the economy. I really didn’t feel the impact until February of 2002. Or what I prefer calling the “silent spring”.

That one was not as easy to dust off and get back on the horse from. Especially since I was in a point in my life where my children’s private school, house, cars, business office- condo, mortgage, and numerous other expenses (not to mention salaries and payroll) all relied upon a set minimum cash flow each month.

I came to realize that while all the trainers, gurus, motivators, and edu-tainment spokespersons of the industry were focusing on placements and billings, no one was talking about protecting your backside. No one was discussing how to set up your financial affairs to carry you through business-threatening down-cycles.

Since I started my career I have since endured three major recessions and one minor one.

Those four recessions are:

1. 1990-1991 Savings and Loan Crisis/Recession
2. 1997 Asian Financial Crisis
3. 2001-2002 Dot-com Bust/ September, 11th Recession
4. 2008-2009 Sub-Prime/Real Estate Meltdown

For the purpose of this article I had three private conversations with three different recruiting industry thought leaders and search firm owners. Each agreed that the number one biggest financial threat that looms over the direct-placement executive search recruiter is the steep drop off in fees, which occurs during the midst of these vicious down cycles.

It is an unspoken taboo-like subject most would rather not publicize or confront. After all, it’s hard to be a motivational speaker and then have to address a subject which will most likely de-motivate audience listeners.

For those of you with a healthy temp/contract business you may want to skip this article. You have cash flow as long as your temp clients are paying their bills. I tried launching a temp company in 1994 and while very successful for nine years I developed a disdain for the temp/contract business. Yes it was a faster turnaround than executive search. Yes it drove a stable cash stream. But it also had a significant distraction on my executive search practice.

If you have a successful executive search practice, and your average fees are $30,000 or higher, the last thing you want is for an annoying call at 10 A.M. demanding their SAP Payroll specialist show up soon “or else”. I enjoyed executive search. Getting paid and being out of the picture to take my vacation afterwards.

By some accounts, about fifty percent of recruiters either a) went out of business or b) abandoned the industry/sector they were dealing with during each of the recessionary cycles outlined above (except for the Asian Market Crisis which affected some U.S. businesses on a more limited basis).

I had a top-producing chemistry recruiter with a nine-year track record quit during 2002 when his entire industry seized and came to a grinding halt. Yet as dismal as prospects appeared, it all turned around by 2003/2004 (Which leads to a separate subject of premature panicking, but this is for another article.).

2^nd biggest threat facing the direct-placement recruiter:

Dealing with Panic

Combined, the impact of a steep recession coupled with ensuing panic resulting from a lack of preparation can result in the one-two knock-out punch combination that puts many out of business for good.

When you are unprepared for problem #1 (the eventual drying up of revenue flow for a spell) you are left with little recourse but desperate, panic-based, reactionary tactics. And that’s not good. When you are prepared, as I was during this last down-cycle of 2008-2009, the drop in business and loss of major accounts becomes just another bump in the road you can tackle while filing your finger nails in your easy chair. While I had reached a sense of concern this past February/March, having plentiful cash stores and reserves limited concern and forestalled heightened panic. I still slept better than during any period before.

Dealing with recessionary downward spirals may require different approaches based on your specific situation. For those recruiters working with a company-paid base salary, your company’s management may (or may not) choose to fund your position through the recession depending on their level of faith and confidence in you.

For those of us who are financially un-tethered (independent), preparation requires a pro-active approach initiated during boom times so that you are not caught off guard. It’s when the revenue is coming in full-stream that you should make plans for gloomy days. Not as the storm clouds thicken in the horizon; by then it may be too late.

The following is a checklist you can begin putting to action now, as the economy heats up, so you are better prepared in dealing with the inevitable recession that must and will come to visit us again:

Financial Checklist

1. Set aside 10-20% of all revenue in liquid assets (Laddered CD’s, Treasury Funds, Bonds, Bond Funds, etc.)
2. Have enough savings to ride out a 6-month period drought of inactivity during a worst case scenario
3. Invest another 10% of annual revenue in your business. Examples are:
   1. Annual banner ads on prominent, industry-specific websites
   2. Annual ads in major print publications/magazines
   3. Consider buying instead of leasing your building/office space
   4. Update/upgrade your website and cross-linking to remain visible in your business
   5. Pay for an SEO specialist
   6. Pay or outsource a Marketing/PR/Publicity guru to cross promote your company and/or website
   7. Better Computer/systems/network
   8. Hire an assistant to do most of your legwork

1. Consider Real Estate as another equity investment
   1. This can be in the form of buying your office instead of leasing
   2. Buying a 2^nd or 3^rd home to rent out (can be distracting to your core profession if you are not careful).
   3. Renting out a seasonal vacation home on sites such as www.vrbo.com
   4. Sublease parts of your current office space (if agreement permits) if cubicles or large sections are vacant (related industries such as cpa’s, realtors, attorneys, HR Software vendors can even benefit from cross-marketing)

I find it interesting that when talking to a financial advisor who primarily sells stocks and equities he/she will always promote the idea of “diversification,” as long as you diversify within their offerings of stocks or funds. Mention real estate to a stockbroker and he/she is likely to look at you as if you just landed in a flying saucer.

The same goes in reverse with the real estate industry professionals. The truth lies somewhere in between. All investments are good investments if you conduct enough research. Art, classic and vintage automobiles, collectibles, can all be forms of investment.

In my humblest of opinions, you manage your investments well whenever you can relate to your investments. Whenever I look back and measure the value derived from each $5,000 I have spent on my own business the returns have always been about ten times the initial outlay. That’s a good investment return ratio. But they are investments I can manage and relate to as I know my business better than anyone else.

This year I experienced the worst and the best this industry has to offer. I had one of my all time worst 1^st quarters everI thought I had lost my touch.

Had I quit at the time, as many lesser-experienced recruiters might do, I would not have experienced one of my very best 3^rd and 4^th quarters ever. In fact those two quarters alone caused my entire year to tie for top best years in my 23 year career.

A cautionary note: try to resist the temptation of going out and buying a new car or lake house when those $30,000+ checks arrive in the mail one after the other. A sequence of multiple consecutive placements can lead to heady thoughts of grandeur. Relish your success. But start proper planning and take a prudent step by buying business insurance by re-investing in the best revenue-generating business of all time: Your own recruiting practice.

The Consequences of Improper Planning

The demise of many recruiters has come from the single failure to save, invest, and prepare for turbulent times. I know first hand the dread these small business owners confronted when I received so many calls in 2009 from desperate recruiters looking for any source of income possible when all their accounts had dried up and prospects for new business were dim. Having no active searches and no prospective accounts to even go after, they were coming to me for either a) advice or b) an outright job.

In each and every conversation I was able to determine their failure to plan and how such contributed to the difficulty they were confronted by.

Here’s an example of real-life reasons why those recruiters reached the end of their revenue rope. I hope learning of the pitfalls helps you avoid the same:

1. Recruiter #1:
   1. Eighteen years in business but no website.
   2. LinkedIn page was only sparsely filled out.
   3. Became content with a too-low $90,000 billing level and such a low threshold quickly resulted in zero when two major clients ceased hiring

1. Recruiter #2
   1. Twenty years in business
   2. Partner left and took his accounts around 2008
   3. Departing partner was not the “go-getter” – he was the “candidate fulfillment” half of the team
   4. Remaining partner had no prospective clients.
   5. Had no marketable candidates
   6. Was seeking low-wage salaried jobs working for another recruiter due to inability to handle the client/fee end of the business equation
   7. Very poor, amateurishly prepared website had multiple broken links

1. Recruiter #3 (met during a job-networking group event in a major city)
   1. Was “laid off” by a 11-person recruiting firm
   2. Business card stated “$400,000 in billings for 2008”
   3. Came across well-groomed, polished, and well-spoken
   4. Further discussion revealed the $400k was a result of a senior recruiter’s clients and fee contracts.
   5. She was technically only a “fulfillment supplier” (sourcer)
   6. When the economy got tough – and positions were scarce – having a fulfillment-only specialist was an unnecessary luxury

You can notice some trends for the reasons why the above three recruiters left the industry for alternate work. Two of the three settled on being predominantly “fulfillment” specialists of other recruiter’s contracts. They did not possess the imperative skill of finding, cultivating, and negotiating with new and prospective clients.

When you have such a skill – the world is your oyster and you will never be without income for more than a temporary dry spell. One of the three was handling both client and candidate fulfillment (recruiting/sourcing). But she had settled into the bare-minimum level necessary for her modest living standards. Ninety-thousand dollars is not so bad when you are in Wichita, Kansas working 30 hours a week.

But settling on minimal quotas means once you lose your two or three key accounts, you’ll risk dropping to zero due to the already low threshold.

Lack of self-investment was also apparent. Judging from the non-existent or poorly produced websites, it is evident two of the three recruiters might have staved off economic difficulty if their websites had been more appealing and they had better marketing and PR material overall. The email signatures often tell a lot about what is or is not going to come later down the pike.

Each of the unfortunate outcomes could have been forestalled if not avoided.

If you are like me and you don’t enjoy the contract/temporary side of the business and prefer to focus on $120,000 and above hires, along with the joy and mental stimulation that comes from big-ticket, single-service sales derived from dealing with such professionals, having three to six months of capital reserves may go far to protect your assets during sharp, steep, down-cycles.

Now if only someone had told me all this 23 years ago. Back then, the only hint we had of how to manage our funds was to follow the leader’s example. But if I had followed my second boss’ example I’d be bankrupt which is how she wound up. That person placed personal possessions, such as a siren-red Mercedes-Benz convertible coupe, expensive vacations, etc. ahead of investing in the office, office-equipment, or staff which came last.

Her self-centeredness caused a mass exodus and ultimately sent her into bankruptcy. What I did learn, if anything, is whose lead to follow versus who I should not be emulating. And that took years of discipline and hard lessons to perfect and refine.

Disclaimer:

I am not an attorney and am not providing any legal advice. I am not a financial planner or financial consultant, nor am I a CPA or tax attorney and you should not rely upon any information contained in the following article without seeking expert, professional and independent guidance of your own.

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This article is from the January 2011 print Fordyce Letter. To subscribe and receive a monthly print issue, please go to our Subscription Services page.

How many times have you heard one or more of your clients state:

“I will not settle for anything but the best.”

Or

“I want to hire the best candidate available.”

Although a worthy pursuit, for many clients, hiring the “best,” in most instances, may be an unobtainable goal. Actually, Herbert Simon may have said it most clearly in his reverse juxtaposition of an old saying:

“The best is the enemy of the good.”

In reality, many managers, working with a limited or distorted understanding of what they are attempting to accomplish through their open position, move ahead looking for the “best” candidate when they have no idea how to define “best.” In so doing, they miss out on many “good” candidates who could meet or surpass the performance outcomes necessary to be successful in the position. In holding out for a nondescript vision of “best,” they miss out on “good” — thereby ending up compromising with “average.”

As Peter Drucker so accurately stated in The Definitive Drucker:

“In order to hire excellent performers, you must first be clear in your mind what excellent performance will look like.”

Adding to the manager’s challenge is their general lack of training in job analysis and performance based selection techniques. With this shortcoming, it is little wonder they many times fail if they attempt to execute the hiring process utilizing internal resources only. Furthermore, these same shortcomings will compromise the results that could be achieved through most independent recruiting firms. Because of this inconsistency in results, many clients have adopted a quantity approach when utilizing outside resources. Obviously, this becomes self-defeating as the individual recruiting firms realize they cannot commit the necessary resources based on the level of competition.

Conversely, consider for a moment what it would be like to be a hiring manager who had total confidence in their outside recruiting firm. This confidence is the result of experiencing the benefits of a client centered hiring process. Inclusive in this process is a proper job analysis as well as the establishment of realistic, performance-based selection criteria and position outcomes. Additionally, under the direction of the outside recruiter, the process is always completed within an acceptable time line.

Which manager would you want to be?

The results of research we have been conducting for over twenty years strongly suggest that the vast majority of hiring managers actually do want to hire “good” candidates if the following two conditions are met:

1. The hiring manager feels confident that the process leading up to their decision has been thorough, exacting, and that it provided them with all the information they required to make a confident hiring decision.
2. That the process they followed was accomplished within a realistic time frame, which still allowed the new employee sufficient room to achieve the required outcomes through the position.

Summed up in one statement:

Managers will make their decision when they feel confident that the hiring process has been properly served within the time frame allotted for its completion, producing a good, qualified, and interested finalist.

However, keep in mind what Robert J. Ringer stated in his 1973 breakthrough book, Winning Through Intimidation,

“… Before a person closes any kind of deal … he always worries about the fact that there may be a better deal down the road. It’s an uncontrollable instinct: at the last moment, the thought has to at least occur to a person that he might be missing out on a better deal somewhere else.”

This is true for our clients as well. However, the client’s sense of urgency will determine the appropriate time line and, if this sense of urgency is strong, it could force the client into compromising his or her decision and hiring the wrong person. Therefore, the control factor in these situations, as it should be in all hiring situations, must be the process that is followed in attracting, evaluating, and hiring “good” candidates who are available given the time constraints created by the sense of urgency.

Remember

The differences between how a good and an average candidate conduct their respective job searches is substantial. Unfortunately, most clients do not take these differences into consideration and as a consequence rarely hire enough good candidates.

Hence, the importance of the hiring process. As explained in our previous articles, when properly executed, the client centered process is designed to attract good (and possibly the best) candidates while building confidence in both the client and the candidate, so that when the time arrives to make a decision, they both will have all the information they require to make the right decision.

Bottom line: when we control and execute with our clients and candidates a properly structured process, both parties will have confidence in their decisions. Their confidence grows and is nurtured because the process has been thorough, exacting, founded on realistic and mutually agreed upon performance outcomes and selection criteria, and also because you have been uncompromising in your commitment to the principle that “the process makes the placement.”

As always, if you have questions or comments about this article or wish to receive my input on any other topic related to this business, just let me know. Your calls and e-mails are most welcome.

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this article is from the January 2011 print Fordyce Letter. To subscribe and receive a monthly print issue, please go to our Subscription Services page.

William Tincup was featured recently in John Sumser’s Top 100 Influencers, which is a running series that Sumser is doing on recruiting and HR professionals who have made an impact in our industry. While Tincup isn’t a recruiting agency guy, he is a self-employed professional services guy, just like many of you. Tincup, along with Bret Starr, co-founded their company Starr Tincup in November of 2000. Starr Tincup is a marketing consultancy that serves the recruiting and HR community. He has been responsible for building the company brand, including the website, book (Try Not To F&ck This Up), direct marketing, email marketing, event strategy, social media strategy, and so forth. Tincup has been known (affectionately? notoriously?) throughout the recruiting and HR community for his low-brow sense of humor, colorful language, and yet his approachability and willingness to have conversations about his work and his thoughts on business and marketing strategy.

Recently, he fell out of love with his work and decided to move on.

At this point, you may be wondering “What does this have to do with me? This guy’s a marketer; I’m a recruiting professional!” I promise – there is a good point to all of this.

Falling out of love with one’s work is common. We’ve all had days where we’ve sworn that if we get on the phone with one more rude person or if one more client tries to cheap out on paying a fee, we’re through. Of course, few are the time when we actually follow through on those threats. But that thought is still lingering in the back of our minds – “Is this all really worth it?”

William Tincup’s story struck me because he detailed the reasons he decided to throw in the towel. He stopped believing in the outsourced marketing services business model. He was frustrated with the double standards applied to his efforts vs. in-house marketers’ efforts. He became annoyed that, as an external service provider, his status was constantly being threatened by these ridiculous standards. And the final straw for him, as he states:

“…the realization that over the course of 10 years in the game I might of [sic] been told “thank you” seven or eight times.  I (read: my firm) changed lives, changed destinies, built lasting brands, created market share, created real value, got people promoted, etc, etc. Yeah, I know – payment for services rendered was my thanks.  Yeah, well, that wasn’t enough.”

I would be very surprised if just about every person reading this article hasn’t struggled with at least one of these issues at some point during your professional recruiting career. Who hasn’t felt like the red-headed stepchild at least once when working with a difficult client? Who hasn’t been held to some crazy standards as an external recruiter that an internal employee would never be held to? And who hasn’t wished that once, just once, someone would thank them for all of the amazing talent they’ve helped shepherd in to an organization?

When you really fall out of love with your work, how do you know when it’s time to say “Enough!” and leave before you become bitter? Is it just a bad case of the Mondays, or is this a recurring gut feeling that just will not go away? How do you get past the rut and fall back in love with what you do? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below. Sharing your experience might just save someone from calling it quits!

From time to time, I have been featured on The Dr. Phil Show.

Four years ago, I first appeared on his show to help one of his “guests” find a job. Since then, I’ve written two books on how to find a job, The Job Search Solution and Acing the Interview, as well as developed America’s only 45-hour online job search program.

In 2009, I flew to California for two days to prepare for another appearance. The majority of us know very little about television production, but the lessons of business that can be gleaned from watching this organization “produce” their product are astounding.

When the show looks for expert advice, they do extensive research on the people and the organizations that they use. Babich and Associates is honored to be one of the resources that The Dr. Phil Show uses and recommends. Their organization is very careful about only choosing the best, and we are humbled.

From the bottom to the top of the Dr. Phil organization, quality and precision are emphasized. Even the fellow who drove the car that picked me up at the airport recognized the quality of the organization for which he works. He claimed that so much of Hollywood had fallen on hard times, that The Dr. Phil Show was a tremendous bright spot, being one of the few successful Hollywood-produced shows.

Three-hundred people work for this show. There are 10 producers, each one having 10 to 12 people working for them; the rest are technicians and support people. Each producer is responsible for one show. At least 10 to 15 hours go into the preparation of every show. The organization tapes three shows a day, four days a week, nine months of the year. The physical taping of each show takes 50 minutes.

It is hard to imagine an organization that runs as smoothly. Everyone, literally everyone, knows exactly what they need to be doing and how they need to do it. It is a precision machine. They have developed a system and process that continues to produce a popular product.

Most of the people who work for The Dr. Phil Show have been with it since its inception. Quite a few, interestingly, have left and come back, which doesn’t seem to be all that uncommon in Hollywood. However, their stated reason for returning is there are very few television shows that run with the same precision and congruity as The Dr. Phil Show.

It is rare to find any organization where so many people work so hard with so much intensity.

Phil McGraw knows every one of them. He is personally involved with the decisions and execution of every show. It is clear that his standards are high and although he has great compassion, if you don’t do your job, and do it well, you’ll be looking for another one. Staying “on top” in the television business is very precarious.

These people make it look easy. They are supposed to. They deserve every bit of success they enjoy.

Many of us don’t get a chance to watch The Dr. Phil Show. I have to admit that the only three or four that I have seen, I have been on the show. Some people claim that some of the subjects he addresses are pretty far out in left field. I’m also sure that some people just don’t like him or his show at all. (I know this because one of the people who “reviewed” one of my books spent more time slamming me because I know Dr. Phil than they did reviewing the book. In fact, the guy hadn’t even read it.)

From a personal point of view, I’ve spent no more than two or three hours of personal one-on-one time with Phil McGraw. I am not familiar with all of the subjects his shows address. But whether you like him or not, this guy runs one hell of a business. He truly cares about people.

He sought our advice in helping people with the emotional distress and pain of having to look for a job. Backstage, he expressed a sincere concern for all of the people looking for a job in this country. He is truly a nice guy. The people who work there reflect his values. His foundation is growing and helping thousands of people.

I had a great lesson in business. Thank you, Dr. Phil!