On Self-Awareness

“What is your damage, Heather?”

— Veronica Sawyer

Those of a certain age <ahem> will remember this comeback from the halls of high school. The question, however, is critical. Those who achieve self-awareness likely have spent a significant portion of their lives exploring the answer.

Jim Collins discusses the role of self-awareness in leadership in his seminal book Good to Great. “Level 5 leaders [Collins' highest order] are a study in duality: modest and willful, shy and fearless.” Leaders able to project conviction yet be truly and constantly receptive to dissent and ideas from throughout the organization cannot exist without high degrees of self-awareness. 

“Without knowing your damage, you may be capable of determining what makes you tick but you will be blind to what makes you react.”

Self-awareness is my number one predictor of future success because it essentially predetermines one’s capacity for growth. Combine self-awareness with exceedingly high levels of intellect and curiosity and – BOOM – you’ve got a winner on your hands. Add experience and the necessary winning personality to the mix and you should do all you can to prevent the candidate from walking out the door. But please don't break the law like Veronica and J.D. did.

Without knowing your damage, you may be capable of determining what makes you tick but you will be blind to what makes you react. If you’ve often found yourself angry, defensive, or aggressive, there is a deep seated fear that is being triggered. Walling it off may have saved you as a child but it’s limiting you as an adult. The truthful exploration of your joys and traumas, your desires and needs, and your habits and peccadillos is necessary to understand why you do the things you do. 

Collins posits that great companies "became relentlessly disciplined at confronting the most brutal facts of their current reality." I say this is true of great leaders as well. I devote considerable energy to this exploration. The mind doesn’t want to walk down these unpleasant avenues. The psyche is built to defend itself. Reflecting on your shortcomings is a choice you must make. How can you improve a habit if you don’t understand its origins? You empower yourself to internalize life’s lessons and achieve new levels of personal and professional success if you can closely and critically observe yourself, particularly when you are exposing the raw wounds of the damage holding you back. 

Too much unexplored damage and, one way or another, your behavior will change to the point where it's noticeable to others. If you aren’t self-aware, it means your mood is being affected by something you don’t know (or want to know) is bothering you. If you are self-aware however, you are constantly practicing being your best self and rising to the occasion. If one is conscious as to who they are, how they think, and what they fear, they have the tools to affect their own change. Self improvement is impossible without self awareness. 

“The mind doesn’t want to walk down these unpleasant avenues. The psyche is built to defend itself. Reflecting on your shortcomings is a choice you must make. ”

Self-aware teams persevere through adversity and learn at ever increasing rates. Self-aware managers know how to build effective teams because they challenge their teams to become ever more aware of what motivates and stifles them (collectively and as individuals) and thus their decision making. A highly functioning team knows who each team member truly is, how they think, and how the combos of those thinking modes interact. Highly functioning teams have the courage to own their behavior and they use this collective self-awareness to be the change they wish for. Smart, curious, self-aware teams can achieve any goal and carry out any plan.

I've previously written about wanting to build heterogeneous teams of people who are continuously exploring their gifts and their shortcomings and building each other up as a result of those explorations. How do you identify these candidates? Brains and experience and niceness can all be tested. Here are just a few of the questions I mix into a 60-90 minute conversation that I believe expose a candidate's level of and capacity for self-awareness:

• What's the single most important thing you do every day?
• Describe a time you felt you were right but you still had to follow someone else's directions.
• What were you doing the last time you looked at a clock and realized you had lost all track of time?
• What business do you fantasize starting?
• What would you most like to learn working at MyCo that will help you in your future after MyCo?
• Where do you not want to be in five years?
• What would you say is the biggest misperception people have of you?
• Without thinking quickly name three reasons why I should not hire you.
• Tell me about the last time a co-worker or customer got angry with you. What happened?
• What do you enjoy most about working and what do you enjoy least?
• Are you nice? When are you not nice? Tell me about the last time you were not nice.

Self-reflection can take place anywhere at any time. I’m getting better at the habit of writing a few things down when I’m feeling agitated and reacting emotionally. It’s difficult, and the answer isn’t always there. But growth starts with asking ‘Why?’. If I can learn to spend more time seeking to understand rather than to be right, I’ll end up understanding and being right more often.

On Recruiting, Part One

We can be sure we are building a successful recruitment strategy and brand when a candidate we reject refers a candidate we hire. 

My recruiters and team members have heard me preach variations of this theme for years. I usually get a strange look the first time they hear me say it. My point is simple: if we spend our time focusing on details and dignity in the candidate experience, the payoff for all parties will be substantial. And when a recruiter closes their first successful rejected candidate referral, the lightbulb goes off and the purpose of all the work we put into recruiting becomes clear.

“Every candidate who applies to your company isn’t just a prospective employee. They’re a prospective customer.”

Recruiting is about relationships. Every candidate who applies to your company isn't just a prospective employee. They're a prospective customer. Evangelist. Source of talent. 

And never, ever judge a book by its cover.

The basic premise is simple: treat everyone awesome. You don't know who the A+ player is before she walks in the door. And you don't know who the B- player is friends with when they walk out the door. Every candidate that works their way through your recruitment process will undoubtedly share their impressions and experiences with their friends. This will impact your brand.

Be sure to keep in mind these important facts: engineers know other engineers, designers know other designers, product managers know other product managers, and marketers know other marketers. Duh.

Details matter:

• Where do you place the job ad? What does it look like? What does it say? Did you ask why in answering all three questions?
• Sweat the structure and copy of the job description. What do you mean to say? What values must be transmitted? How are you representing your culture? What are you choosing to leave out and why (I often make choices here to test for what questions candidates ask)? Are you flighting multiple JDs for the same position to attract different applicant pools?
• How have you designed your interview welcome experience before candidates arrive? What does the candidate receive beforehand to set their expectations and put them at ease? Do they have a single point of contact who is regularly in touch, particularly the day before the interview?
• How have you designed your interview welcome experience once they arrive at your office? Where are they seated to wait? Do you want them to see the buzz of the office or have privacy to collect their thoughts? Have you provided a WiFi password, an iPad to pass the time, or some reading material on the company? 
• Does the day start with a member of the recruiting team taking them to the interview room and reviewing the day's agenda, offering to answer any questions, and generally putting the candidate at ease? Did you offer them a drink and show them where the restrooms are?  Is food or lunch on the agenda? Are they in a glass box where everyone can walk by and stare at them or do they have some privacy?
• Do interviewers introduce themselves, explain their role in the company, and set out their goals for the interview and agenda for the hour? Do they look candidates in the eye and shake hands like a grown up? Do they leave their phones back on their desk? Leave enough time for questions? Provide a card or email address for follow up questions (and to make it easy for the candidate to send a thank you note)? Are candidates offered a rest and a drink before the next interviewer enters the room?
• Does the day end with the same member of the recruiting team debriefing the candidate? Providing a sales pitch? Collecting feedback on the process and on the individual interviewers? Does the recruiter make notes of new or unanswered questions?
• Within 24 hours has the recruiter followed up with answers to those questions? Is the candidate thanked for their time by the company? Have you asked the candidate how we did (perhaps with a short feedback survey)? Solicited them for further questions?
• Within 72 hours is the candidate's standing in the process clearly communicated? Are next steps delivered in a timely manner? Are expectations properly set.
• Etc.

Dignity matters:

• Are you respecting the candidate's time and other commitments?
• Are you answering their questions honestly, transparently, and in a timely manner?
• Is the entire process timely? Does it feature regular and excellent communication?
• Are rejections delivered humanely and verbally by the recruiter or hiring manager who knows the candidate best and shepherded them thru the interview process? Did you acknowledge their strengths? Did you thank them for their time?
• Are candidates offered an opportunity to receive feedback on their interview process so they too can learn and take steps towards being their best self and achieving their career goals? 
• Etc.

It is deeply satisfying in building a company to deliver an awesome candidate experience to someone, unfortunately having to reject them but doing so with compassion and dignity, and having them in turn recommend your company to someone they feel would be a better fit than they were. When candidate pools are tight and markets are competitive, every detail counts.

The Best Cover Letter

Earlier this year I received the below letter. This may be the best cover letter I have ever received (that being said it's certainly not appropriate for everyone, nor every position). It is reprinted with the approval of the anonymous applicant. The original job posting is at the end of this page.

Don't let anyone tell you cover letters are BS. They aren't. I'm hard pressed to review a CV without a cover letter, and if the cover letter doesn't engage me, it's as if there wasn't one. Remember that I'm reading these all day long. You need to quickly convince me I should keep reading. You need to stand out. Your cover letter, like your CV, should be tantalizing, with personality and enough information to make me want to hear the rest of your story. Don't reveal everything about yourself yet. That's how you get the interview.

Personality alone isn't enough. The most common error folks make in writing a cover letter is to focus on why this particular opportunity is good for them. They write about their needs not the company's. The applicant should be thinking about their customer (me) instead. How are you going to help this company achieve its goals? What anecdotes from your experience are gonna convince me you are a real human who can make a real impact? Focus more on why the company needs you and less on why you need the company.

Last, but not least, proofread the shit out of your letter. Bad spelling and grammar are huge red flags. Misspellings of my name or the company's are too. If you can't pay attention to detail in your application what kind of faith can I have in your day-to-day work?

---

February 23, 2014

Dear Reader,

I submit here my resume in consideration for the position of Director, Customer Care and Operations in Portland, OR.

While reading the 15th February OregonLive article on the spin-up of Squarespace operations in Portland I was intrigued by the critical stance the COO took on potential office space. Then after scoffing at the “How to Apply” section of the job posting, I let it percolate for a few hours then decided what the fuck. Here goes:

You will not find a better fit for the particulars of this job, as you've defined them, certainly not in a Portland native. Why? Because I started out and grew-up with the darling of the Silicon Valley all through the dot.com era; I was fire-hardened through many years living & working in Manhattan and now am barrel-aging in Portlandia. I’ve done stints in support, technical sales and management and I know what works and what doesn’t. I've built support programs & teams from the ground up.

I learned the art and ethic of customer service from John Doe at BigCo, in the early days, when those concepts still meant something there. John is from New York City and was my first-line manager & mentor then, and is the kind of New Yorker I came to truly admire later – hard & crunchy outside; soft & chewy inside. John always said “Treat the customer like you would treat your next-door neighbor – someone you might have to look in the eye every day”. I've stuck with that principal and built teams who subscribed and could live up to it as well. I may occasionally kick the shit out of vapid, incompetent and/or lazy salespeople, but I always treat the customer like gold.

Aside from the requisite industry bona-fides in my CV, I bring the following to the table:

• I will hook you up with the best Ashtanga instructor in Portland
• I'm certified as an instructor in the discipline of Rational Process and Problem Resolution and will teach it to the customer support staff and leadership
• I love MCM design, furniture and architecture and can consult on the PDX site-search (at least I can tell you if you are picking a dog and could do better)
• I have worked for two of the leading Contact Center infrastructure suppliers and have analyzed the others as competitors
• I don't suffer fools, slackers or whiners lightly
• John Doe is now SVP of Customer Care at BigCo 
• I am one funny mother-fucker

In closing, I'll just say that my resume probably looks a bit stodgy, but I'll be damned if I'm going to stuff it with bullshit fluffy language and credentials just to get matches on some HR filtering software and I'm not going to hire a 24 year-old career-coach to ‘teach’ me how to sell myself. I hope you like it anyway. I'll reveal my super power only if hired.

John Doe

---

Director, Customer Care and Operations
Portland, OR

Squarespace prides itself on delivering exceptional customer experiences. In 2013 we were recognized by the Stevie Awards as the best customer service team in the country. That team will nearly triple in size this year, and we are opening a west coast office to complement our existing operations in New York and Dublin.

We are looking for a special person to establish this new customer care operation and immediately grow it 100 people per year for several years. You must be a seasoned leader with startup DNA and be a passionate advocate for customer care excellence. You also need to have a fun-filled personality well-suited to building office culture in line with our values, recruiting and retaining talent, and representing our brand in everything you do. This position reports to the VP, Customer Care.

Responsibilities

• Lead all local operations, with a primary focus on customer care, including hiring and staffing, monitoring staff performance, training and professional development, facilities, and HR
• Ensure our local office is truly a Squarespace office and all local operations meet and exceed the guidelines and standard determined by our New York HQ
• Drive cross-functional and cross-division relationships with stakeholders to ensure continuous improvements to the entire customer experience (includes communications, feature releases, support tool development, etc.)
• Focus on security and scalability of infrastructure and process to support exponential user demand; Help evaluate and advise on new technology and vendor reviews in contact center space
• Drive ongoing process improvement throughout the customer care team, with a particular focus on partnering with business intelligence to ensure data-driven decision making
• Produce KPI reporting and prepare action items for senior customer care leadership; Lead location communications with peer team and executive leadership
• Prepare insight-driven presentations for weekly team meeting, and facilitate team member’s presentations

Requirements

• 10-15 years experience, including minimum 8 years customer-facing experience inside a technology company’s customer care organization (preferably consumer SaaS or ecommerce), with meaningful exposure to senior leadership
• Broad experience managing, developing, and mentoring teams of 120 or more people, including experienced managers
• Experience building an operation from scratch a definite plus; Additional experience in retail or hospitality an added bonus
• Demonstrated expertise using data analytics and metrics to monitor, manage, and drive process and quality
• Comfortable working across disciplines including marketing, business intelligence, engineering, product, and business development to have a whole-business approach to customer care
• Ineffable ability to get stuff done; Comfortable with the workings of business operations such as HR and facilities
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills with an unyielding attention to detail
• Respect for the creative process, taste, and a passion for Squarespace
• A terrific sense of humor
• Portland native

How to Apply

A cover letter explaining why you love Squarespace, why this job is your destiny, and what your secret superpower is is required along with your CV.

About Squarespace

Squarespace mission is to provide creative tools that power the future of the web. From designers creating the next generation of web and mobile experiences, to anyone managing their own online presence for the first time, Squarespace provides elegant solutions that set new standards for online publishing. By focusing our efforts on the fusion of design and engineering, we strive to create long-lasting products that delight and surprise our customers.

Squarespace is defined by our insistence on providing an unparalleled user experience. All of our team members are charged with bringing creativity, honesty, and intellectual rigor to their responsibilities in a never-ending quest to delight our customers. We have high expectations of each other and work as a team to build things we are all proud of. That mindset, along with our execution, has allowed Squarespace to create revolutionary products and grow into the profitable business it is today.

Learn more at http://squarespace.com/about