Note to butchers: don’t hire vegetarians

Thanks to the Be Excellent blog for pointing me to this article in Entrepreneur Magazine. In the article, Robert Kiyosaki stresses that businesses need to hire people with a passion for their mission.

Hiring the right people — the people with the right passion — is one of the toughest jobs for any business. But maybe not the toughest. The toughest job may be getting rid of the wrong people. Hiring for skills will get an organization only so far. Hiring for passion will help the organization excel.

Kiyosaki says his rich dad told him

“Hire people who are mission-driven — people who share your vision. If you don’t, your business will struggle, or may never even get off the ground.”

In other words… if you own a butcher shop, don’t hire vegetarians.

Implication for Job Seekers

Why is it so challenging for businesses to hire for passion? One reason, I suspect, is that many job applicants don’t know or cannot convey their passion.

If you don’t know what your passion is, how will your employer — or potential employer — ever know? You need to know what you are passionate about, and be able to effectively express your passion. If you don’t know what your passion is, there are many tools to help you. One such tool I just came across recently is a new book by Dan Miller entitled 48 Days to the Work You Love.

You should also consider finding a coach who can help you discover your strengths and passions.

What were you created to do?

 

A sociable introvert

At a seminar I was attending recently, we were asked to divide ourselves into groups of self-described extroverts and introverts. Several people were surprised when I joined the introverts group. They pointed out that throughout the seminar, they had observed me

• approaching strangers to introduce myself,
• initiating conversations,
• asking questions during the session, and
• volunteering to speak before the group.

Surely, then, I must be an extrovert.

But not so fast… What they don’t know about me is that after the seminar I need to have some “alone” time to recharge. Whether it is reading, writing, taking a walk, or some similar activity, I need some time alone to reflect on and process the stimuli I’ve just received.

• Extroverts draw energy from external stimuli (e.g. people and things).
• Introverts draw energy from internal stimuli (e.g. ideas and concepts).

People sometimes equate introversion with shyness or social awkwardness, but introverts do not necessarily lack social skills. While shyness may be a factor for some, the dysfunction of many introverts in social settings has less to do with shyness than it does with energy. In other words, the introvert may become so content entertaining his internal stimuli that he doesn’t perceive a need to expend energy on external stimuli. My son has a t-shirt that summarizes this introvert mindset. It says:

“I’m in my own little world. But that’s okay… they know me here.”

For many introverts, therefore, the challenge of social situations is not to overcome shyness. The challenge is to recognize and appreciate the value of the external stimuli. After all, the external stimuli are a cornucopia of the things we introverts really love:

more stuff to think about.