The Great Confinement or “Social Distancing” has put the world in an emotional and economic crisis, which the world has not seen in years. The ravages are exceedingly difficult to calculate, let alone overcome. However, as difficult as it is, we must not forget that it is still a crisis, and like every crisis, there is opportunities and new things to learn.

I have over 11 years of experience in Head Hunting. Years that I have spent mostly developing business in an industry that, like the vast majority, grows every day, but the peculiarity of this one being it does not require for a specific professional career (let alone the degree), anyone can compete and such acceptance makes the competition stronger and harder to anticipate.

The Covid-19 has directly affected the Head-Hunting Industry. Companies not only stopped hiring, they laid off a large part of their workforce. In the United States alone, Covid-19 has left more than 41 million people unemployed and several industries on the verge of bankruptcy. This could indicate that we are going to have a lot of work (the Head Hunting firms) when things get better; however, as in every crisis, which is always a land of opportunity, a series of self-analysis questions come to mind: Why should companies trust me? What makes my service better than my competitors?

Although hiring has been kept to a minimum and layoffs have skyrocketed, there are still several companies that need the service of recruitment firms and external consultants to fill urgent vacancies, so the specific question we must ask ourselves, today and always is how can I best meet the needs of my client? The cost-benefit ratio is a key factor in deciding which supplier to work with for many organizations, given the current global situation, this factor has become more important. For this reason, many of my competitors, regardless of their size, are making a much greater emphasis in this area and are lowering their fees in order to get the business (the search).

Here, I found my differentiator and crisis lesson. Instead of reacting like my competitors and accepting to work for less money, I understood that taking care of the economic side not only means spending less, it means helping my Clients to spend and invest better, how? guaranteeing their investment. My clients do not need a cheaper supplier, they need a business partner who can extend the guarantee of the asset they are about to acquire. So, instead of lowering my fees to get the job – personally, I think this is a resource that denotes urgency more than anything else – I have increased our guarantee time up to a 50% of what my competitors offer, regardless of the position level.  

Without a doubt, these have been very difficult months, but we must never forget that every crisis is an opportunity to improve, and thanks to Covid-19, I learned that it is necessary not to do more of the same or react with fear. We must make an effort to find that differentiator that will get us through, that will make us unique, especially when it seems like nothing can be done.

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Why weren’t the Mcdonalds brothers able to reap the success of their revolutionary fast food production system?  ¡Simple, due to their lack of leadership!

It all started in 1937, in Pasadena, California, when the Dick and Maurice McDonald brothers opened a small self-service restaurant that actually, it first specialized in Hot-Dogs, not hamburgers. A few years later, they moved to San Bernardino, California, where they reorganized their kitchen into a fast food production line and included hamburgers on the menu. Over the years, hamburgers became the main dish and after 15 years of operation, they decided to franchise the business.

The funny thing is, even though the Mcdonalds Brothers were very good with their customers and had very revolutionary ideas, and an exceptional product, they only managed to sell 15 franchises. They did not had the ability to make the franchisees believe in their Business model. It wasn’t until Ray Kroc came along that Mcdonalds started to really grow. Ray Kroc sold 100 franchises in the first 4 years of operation and almost 400 in the next 4 years.

What did Kroc do that the Macdonalds brothers didn’t? He believed in the business, but more importantly, he got the franchisees to believe in the business model.

Kroc fixed the most important problems since the beginnig, recruited leaders for critical positions and although he couldn’t pay them with the resources the business had at that time, he took out personal bank loans, cashed in his life insurance policy and sacrificed his own salary for years to keep things running smoothly. At that point, thanks to Ray Kroc’s faith in the business, the franchisees beleived in him and in the business modeland the rest of the story tells itself.

The faith and self-confidence of the leader in any company, largely determines the success of the Business, but more importantly, how he can transmit it to his employees and how he can influence in them, also plays an important role in the companies success.

If Kroc had not believed in the potential that the revolutionary fast food system of the Mcdonalds brothers had, he probably would not have been able to sell as many franchises as he did. But also, if he hadn’t being able to influence in the franchisers the way he did, thanks basicly to his example, he wouldn’t have been able to make Mcdonald’s grown to the size it was born to.

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It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you just improve your mental picture of yourself. A sales manager who repeats positive affirmations will soon come to see himself as a successful person and suddenly, things will start to occur the way they hope and plan for.

This is particularly useful when you’re gearing up to handle an upcoming sale. Just recall the best sale you’ve ever made and repeat it in your mind and you’ll be able to repeat that success again. Mediocre salespeople, on the other hand, dwell on their worst sales experience before an upcoming sale. He’ll find himself stuttering during the pitch and stressing out; the superior salesperson, in contrast, breezes through the presentation with confidence.

It’s just about learning from past lessons and knowing that successful people are not the ones who don’t screw up but the ones that learn from their mistakes. Regardless of how bad the mistake was. Always keep a positive image about yourself and things will start flowing the way you hope for.

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The single most important thing in every business is the long-run goal or the “big picture”, unfortunately, in order to accomplish it, you can’t prioritize one from the other. But the good news is that you can do both simultaneously, how? Easy, empathizing with your customers/clients. 

To empathize is to understand or relate to someone else’s emotional experience. Whether it’s your clients, husband or wife, children or friends, empathizing with those around you will help you understand what they want and need.  Why is it good for business? Because your clients or costumers will know that you’re not only interested in completing a sale but rather, you’re looking for something more important, their trust.

For some people, empathizing is simple but for some other folks, that’s not that simple. Good thing is that everyone can learn how to do it, how? Always keep on Learning. And by learning, I don’t mean that you should go to read some book on empathizing, but rather, always be aware for the opportunities that come daily, especially when you’re about to go to visit some client. Everything matters! Especially the little details that we take for granted but for some people, detecting those minor details, might be the difference between being someone special or just some salesperson that will not even remember their name.

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Specifically, in business, when people are looking for their next professional challenge, most of the time they will decide based on two major factors; The leaders and the culture of the company. If the company has a culture in which people feel safe, comfortable and has leaders that care more for them rather than the number, more likely this company will attract, and most importantly, retain, the talent they need to thrive.

Why? Because it’s in our very nature. If people feel safe and noticed for who they are and not only their results, people will perform better, achieving results in a more efficient and effective way. It’s just a matter of biology not complex management theories.

It’s important for leaders to never lose the trust of their colleagues or subordinates, and one of the most common way for losing trust is to take shortcuts instead of following the proper procedures. Leaders are supposed to be the ones who enforce the rules and hold others accountable for following them; therefore, if he suddenly decides to take shortcuts, he can end up losing the trust of the entire organization by giving the impression that he above the rules.

So the key for any organization that wants to thrive is; No one is above the law, especially their leaders, attract leaders who care for the people they lead, not only in their results, and to have a culture in which people feel safe, comfortable and valued.

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