Author: Fabrizio

The way things are done

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.. is much more important that what gets done.

That is to say, if culture eats strategy for breakfast, tactics are not even on the menu.

If still somebody has doubts about this, after all that has happened with Uber and WeWork these past 12 months, here is a statistic that further supports the importance of culture (and of executives and management promoting culture with their own behaviour) on organisations’ and personal success.

In 2018, 39% of the CEOs losing their job were ousted because of unethical behaviour (vs 35% because of poor financial performance).

It was the first year in which unethical behaviour led the list of reasons why CEOs get fired. And it is an additional sign that more and more people, even at board level, start taking culture seriously.

The way things are done is much more important that what gets done.

Consistency

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Consistency is about understanding what matters to you, and then relentlessly act in agreement with that.

Of course, not all the things can matter. What is important to you? Is it punctuality, honesty, openness, candour, performance, trustworthiness, impact, family, work, relationships, knowledge, expertise, power, generosity, compassion, empathy, confidence, independence, audacity, heroism, harmony, challenge, … . How do you define that in a way that makes it important to you?

That is the first step, one that is often overlooked. Be careful with your choice, because the second part is going out there in the world and showing up every day, in private and in public, in agreement with whatever you have chosen.

If you value punctuality, you should not be late, and when you are, you should apologise and repair.

If you value generosity, jealously clinging to what you have is probably not your thing.

If you value power, you might not want to turn and wait when somebody is left behind.

It sounds difficult, and it is. But the alternative is changing the way you act when the wind changes, following the mood of the moment: demanding openness today and complaining for getting it tomorrow; promoting honesty in the morning and lying in the afternoon; building a career on audacity and charisma and pretending people will believe you are a considerate leader that seeks harmony.

We know how this feels, so the work needed to achieve consistency is worth it.

Applying

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Few suggestions for the first step in a job application.

  • Though it depends on the role, for most two pages are enough: one for the cover letter, one for the CV.
  • Cover letter and CV are NOT supposed to say the same things. They are two sides of a coin.
  • This is a weird coin, as it as other sides too. So make sure that what you say in your application is consistent with what you say in public online (profiles descriptions, public posts, LinkedIn profile duh!, and so on).
  • The CV needs to feature the more relevant work experiences (if you have many, make a selection and add one or two sentences to summarise the rest); your education; your contacts; your relevant skills (list them, no elaboration needed). All the rest can be added IF you still have space in the page, but be considerate.
  • It is not necessary to customise the CV for every application, though it is possible.
  • It is absolutely necessary to customise the cover letter for every application.
  • Customisation for the cover letter means: the name of the person you are writing to (you can almost always find it); the name of the company you are applying to work for (sounds trivial, right?); a couple of sentences on why you are interested in the company; the key points in your career and life that make you a good candidate for the role AND the company.
  • These key points are the corner stone of the cover letter. Make them 2 or 3 maximum. Be sure that your narrative fits well with the position you are applying for AND (again) the company. Do not just state what you did or when, more importantly say what you/your team achieved and why it does matter.
  • In closing the cover letter, include everything that is very important to you (salary request, availability to travel, need for home office, etc.).
  • Once CV and cover letter are ready, read them once again. Delete all that is unnecessary (there is probably around a 10-15% at least).
  • Read everything again.

Luck

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Luck is a major factor in all types of success, and the failure to recognize this simple fact is a major factor in all later collapses.

Some people, at some point, start thinking that success is owed and inevitable.

They are perhaps very talented people, or people who put a lot of work and long hours into shaping something, or even incredibly creative people who have managed to change the rules in their industry, or again natural and charismatic leaders that suck others into their visions.

But should all this be a determining factor, there would be millions of billionaires and thousands of unicors and decacorns. And the best thing would be that once gotten there, there they would stay forever. They would own the recipe, after all.

Success is all of the things above, and yet it is mainly a series of unprecedented and unrepeatable circumstances that lined up to provide somebody or a group of people with an opportunity. If you are there, you most likely do not know how you got there, and you better not get too comfortable.

Appreciate the luck you have had, make it worth it (not only for yourself, ESPECIALLY not for yourself), and build resilience for when the moment will come for you to step out of the spotlight.

How are you going to know?

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When you cut with a knife, more often than not, you are not risking anything as long as you are cutting something that is familiar and that does not require a particular effort.

Most problems start when you hit a spot that you cannot cut with your normal moves. You turn the knife up and down, apply more pressure, your motion loses fluidity, you get more tired as the difficult spots increase.

That’s when the risk of getting cut is higher, and that’s when you most need to be present and alert.

The same is valid for our lives, both personal and professional. You need to have routines you can relax in, in order to be ready when it’s needed.

If you dedicate your attention to everything and everybody in the same measure, if you consider all the opportunities equally appealing and worth your time, if that particular feeling you feel when something is important is there all the time.

How are you going to know?