Are you a plodder?

A few months back I was having a conversation with my grown son, Matthew, about some business challenges. We were talking about how my work was going in growing TruStar and all the obstacles you face at each phase as a business develops. At some point in the discussion he said, “you know, Dad, you are real plodder.” As a business person I wasn’t sure how to take that. I always thought of a plodder as not being too bright and just “plodding” through life slowly and even aimlessly.

But, what he told me actually made me very proud. He said, “Dad, every day you approach your work with the same relentless, positive, determined persistency. No problem stands a chance against you.” I was at first relieved to think my son thought that well of me and my approach to my work.

But, more importantly, I think I realized that he had captured my personal formula for any real success I had achieve in any area of my life. I do come at my work and any thing I want to achieve with a certain level of tenacity and confidence that inevitably I will solve this problem or I will achieve this goal. I think most people quit too soon. Some entrepreneurs build a tremendous vision but get bored with the day-to-day grind, and their dreams never quite come to fruition. I like the grind. I love “operationalizing the vision”. Like the quote from the movie, “A League of Their Own”, “the hard is what makes it great”.

Yes, I AM a plodder and proud of it.

So, what does this all have to do with recruiting and finding the great and talented people our clients need so desperately? Everything! Yes, today we have great technologies, tools and innovative methods for doing what we do. However, we still have to have the passion to execute those important processes every day to get the robust funnels and recruiting results we must for our clients and the people counting on us. To go the extra mile, to find those human “diamonds” out there waiting, we must be willing to persevere through the mundane and sometimes mind-numbing aspects of what we all must do.

Remember, successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. Each of us can certainly plod our way to success in finding, attracting and acquiring the right talent for our clients. I’m a perfect example of that fact. We must just commit ourselves to confidently attacking the problem, relentlessly probing and learning along the way until we overcome all the obstacles and finally succeed. Here’s to your successful plodding!!