How - Dov Seidman [81]
That’s the paradox of success. You can achieve it only by pursuing something greater: significance.
If thriving in the workplace flows from close alignment with the HOWS of the organization you work for, then you must bring yourself to the table in a way that lets them see who you truly are. At his Harvard interview, Sig understood instinctively what most of us need to learn: interpersonal transparency is the best way to present yourself authentically to the world. Sig won that place in their program in part because at the moment of truth, he was able to present himself transparently. His honesty allowed Harvard to see the whole person, a person of confidence and personal integrity, despite the fact that his grades were so-so by their standards. I’ve personally interviewed dozens of high-level candidates for positions at LRN, and I often ask people to share with me something they consider a weakness. Too many times, I hear something like “I care too much” or “I’m a workaholic,” pat interview answers that are designed to be strengths masquerading as weaknesses. Seldom do I hear an honest appraisal of skills that need improving. When I do, it makes an impression. In our transparent age, there has never been a better time to resist the pressure to cut corners and shade the truth, not only because you will probably be caught, but because transparency is now understood as the way to accountability, strength, and mutual understanding. You no longer need to have a Master of the Universe costume on. Trying to be Superman, or all things to all people, no longer defines strength. Hiding weakness, like controlling information, swims against the current of business in a transparent age.
There has never been a better time to turn your weaknesses into strengths, like Sig did, because strength now comes with this type of vulnerability. Instead of puffing yourself up in an interview or trying to be something you are not, what if you say, “I’m actually not so good at these two things, but I am pretty good at these other two things.” Are you more likely to get a job at that company? Employers are looking for skill sets, yes, but more importantly they are looking for someone who can align with their goals. Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, a leading values-based company, said in a recent interview on NPR’s Marketplace, “When we hire employees, we look for a passion. That passion tells me that they’re alive, and there is potential there.”40 As information-based job skills become increasingly transferable between industries and job descriptions, companies looking for the best talent put far less emphasis on specific expertise—a candidates WHATS—and far more on their HOWS. A potential employer, hearing you being candid, thinks, “Wow, this candidate really seems to know herself and what she can bring to the table. I can work with someone who is self-aware.”
SIG, DON’T ZAG
It is no longer possible to make and sustain a Wave by telling the people sitting next to you that you’ll pay them to participate, telling the people two rows back that you think it will help the team win, and telling the little guy in front of you that you’ll punch him if he doesn’t stand up. The free flow of information creates a dangerous playing field for those whose game is to shade the truth. When people are connected—when they can share notes and communicate horizontally among themselves—the ability to spin and manipulate information disappears. Co-workers, customers, suppliers, and strategic partners are all sitting in the same stadium with you, integrally connected. Information becomes powerful when you get everybody on the same page with you, and it is the most powerful thing if you spread a consistent message to more and more people. The only way to make that powerful Wave that starts in one place and then flows throughout the stadium in a self-sustaining way is to get everyone you can reach directly aligned in a common goal. In a horizontal, connected world nothing achieves