Staying Driven Despite Success

In the recruiting industry, initial success can be a double-edged sword. When you're starting with nothing, the drive to succeed is often fueled by necessity. However, as you begin to accumulate wins and gain traction, there's a dangerous temptation to ease up and get comfortable. Easy early wins often spell disaster for new recruiters, because they get a rose-colored view of recruiting and aren’t ready for the gruel. This is a critical juncture where many recruiters falter.

The Danger of Complacency

1. Comfort Leads to Compromise: When you start experiencing success, it's easy to feel like you can afford to relax your standards. This mindset, while seemingly harmless at first, can lead to a gradual decline in effort and quality. The fall of Rome was slow and probably seemed fun for a while.
2. Small Compromises, Big Consequences: What starts as a minor compromise can quickly snowball into a habit which undermines your hard-earned progress. This shift in attitude can affect everything from client interactions to candidate sourcing. It’s like adding one cheat day a month into your diet seems fair. That slides into one a week, then “December doesn’t count.” Except our bad habit makes your wallet slimmer not fatter. 

Operating with Urgency

1. Back Against the Wall Mentality: Adopting a mindset where you operate as if your back is always against the wall can be incredibly effective. It keeps you hungry, focused, and unwilling to settle for less than your best. We use a prioritization strategy to keep moving quickly between active business goals. When your back is against the wall, it’s great to know just where you are swinging next.
2. Consistent High Standards: Maintaining the same level of diligence, dedication, and quality which propelled your initial success is crucial. This consistency ensures that your standards don't slip as you grow. The miniature version of this many recruiters experience daily is this: you start your calls with energy and a smile. After 30 voicemails, your delivery has cooled as rapidly as your morning coffee. 

The Risks of Lowering Standards

1. Slipping Backwards: The moment you start to cut corners or lower your execution standards is the moment you risk reversing your progress. In recruiting, reputation and results matter, and both are quickly eroded by complacency. In the cold-calling example above, it’s not the “getting over the fear of the phone” problem so many Recruiting Managers might blame. It’s simply that poorly delivered voicemails don’t perform. If you sound bad enough, it can be worse than no message at all.
2. A Constant Strive for Excellence: To ensure long-term success, adopt a mindset of continual improvement. Always look for ways to enhance your skills, deepen your industry knowledge, and refine your processes. This is a standard of work ethic and professionalism we expect in other industries. You want your mechanic to work on cars which came out after they graduated tech school. That requires constant learning.

In Conclusion

Remember, the path to sustained success in recruiting is paved with consistent effort and high standards. Don't let early wins lull you into a false sense of security. The Tortoise and the Hare is a precautionary tale for easy success. Stay driven, keep your standards high, and operate as though your back is always against the wall. This relentless pursuit of excellence will not only keep you on the path of progress but will also set you apart in a competitive industry. 

If you’re ready to step up your recruiting career, explore Moore eSSentials Group Coaching, and receive a 10% discount when you enter this coupon code: EMINFO2024. If you want to talk with Tricia directly, call her cell on 630.240.4454. She answers her phone.