It Takes a Long Time to Sound like Yourself
In the late 80′s I heard an interview with the late great trumpeter, Miles Davis. In that segment, Miles said that “it takes a long time to sound like yourself”. What he meant was that as a musician, you grow up learning how to play by imitating the styles and form of the great players. Everyone goes through this process – as an example, as a jazz saxophonist, most will at some time in their development try to play like the great John Coltrane. However, to truly “make it” and achieve your potential, Miles was saying you ultimately need to “find your own voice”, to develop and reveal the sound and style that is uniquely you. In other words, you need to become authentic.
In my opinion this concept can be applied to almost everyone in every profession (in fact to personal development in general). When we first start our careers, we are trained and mentored by more senior professionals. If we admire and respect these individuals, then naturally we look to emulate and adopt their styles and characteristics (and of course, some look to impose their styles on us!). If we are too accurate in our emulation, then of course the labels of “there goes so and so Jr. ” and other diatribes. But in most cases, over time we absorb and learn from a wide variety of influences which in turn influences who we are and how we conduct ourselves in the world. In the best case, these influences gell together to create a more advanced and well defined persona and character – a better YOU if you will. Of course, this happens to varying degrees in each individual and at varying speeds.
The reason this process is interesting in the world of Work, Recruiting, and Hiring is that people have come to understand that Authenticity matters in terms of personal effectiveness and happiness. The more a leader is genuine and authentic, the more his team trusts him or her and is willing to be lead by them (former CEO of Medtronic, Bill George, has written a couple of books on authentic leadership). And, in a hiring situation, people try hard to understand who the real (authentic) person is that they are speaking with versus the “fully prepped interviewee” that is in front of them. The last thing anyone wants is to meet one person during the interview process and to have “a different person” show up on the first day of work. This is important in both directions – the nice future boss who you met during the interview process (not to mention all of the potential team mates who were on their best behavior) can turn out to be quite different during the first few months on the job. That’s where authenticity and truly “Sounding like Yourself” matters.
But more than being the right thing to do, Sounding like Yourself and being authentic can be a competitive weapon in the hiring process. Being the “shrink wrapped” candidate and checking all the right boxes on 101 Things do on an Interview checklist will get you in the door, but in front of a thoughtful and savvy decision maker, it probably won’t take you to round 2. The same goes for being a hiring manager, the economy is tough now so companies have the upper hand, but that will change and we will be back to the situation where the laws of diminishing baby boomers in the work force will again make clear the highly skilled professional shortage that we are facing. Candidates then will return to making decisions where the culture and compatibility with the boss rank very highly in their process. Both sides want to understand what the other will be really like on a day to day basis – will they be fun to work with, what skills and other traits are beyond the norm and could bring value to the team, and how can I be sure that this person has a depth of character and integrity that I and the team will be comfortable with and fit in the with the company culture?
If you have been in the work force and out of college for some time, clearly you will have built up a set of life and work experiences that will have added depth to your character and personality. You may also be accomplished in a number of hobbies and enjoy personal pursuits that make you a multi dimensional, multi talented individual. Those things need to come out during the interview process – they make you human, they allow you Sound like Yourself, and they separate you out from the other candidates and other hiring managers. Along with this goes how you do these things (both work and non-work related) – are you passionate or are you more calm and well thought out? Each has its advantages. Give the other person examples of what and how you do things, show that you are 3-Dimensional and Unique.
Let me give you an example of this in action – I recently started on a couple of search assignments for the CEO of a Neurology Medical Device company. This individual has a great personal story – he is an ex professional baseball player who after retiring obtained four masters degrees in 5 years (is about to finish his PhD) and started his own medical device company (he’s in his early 30′s too!). Now, you can imagine, this is quite a personal history and it’s a compelling starting point for any discussion he has with a candidate or client. His journey is interesting and it adds a multi-dimensionality to his persona that can and is used as an advantage – people want to speak with him. Now, all of us can’t have this type of compelling history, but we all do have many other parts of our background that make up “Our own Unique Sound”. If we can bring those parts out and share them with others in a compelling way, at the right time, it can be a powerful way to connect with people.
Now, some of you are saying – Jay, come on, this example doesn’t fit the 99% of the rest of us. We don’t have anything close to share. Ok then, let me give you another example which is more down to the rest of us. I called a candidate the other day, a Medical Device R&D Engineer- he was out doing an errand but took the call. Now, in a matter of a few minutes, he was able to paint a picture of himself and his character that was very compelling. This is what happened – when he picked up and I introduced myself, he said he definitely wanted to speak, but was tied up with doing something for a friend. It seems that his friend was building a tree house for his kids, and as he was out shopping he saw that a very old historic restaurant was taking apart an old wood deck and getting rid of the wood. He determined that this wood was a very special hardwood that was very expensive and not easy to secure these days and as they were going to just throw it away, it would be a great find for his friend to use in his tree house. Therefore, he was there that day picking up the wood for his friend. I told him that I was impressed by his care and consideration for his friend. Upon which he then told me, that his friend and he go way back and also do a lot of sailing together and so often help each other with things. So, in a matter of a couple of minutes, this person painted a very rich picture for me about who he is, his character, his loyalty to people, and his excellent communication skills. He was clearly someone who had found his voice and learned to Sound Like Himself.
Therefore, so can you – let the complex mix that is your personality and character shine through for other people to see – do it with stories and examples that are real and genuine. People will notice, they will listen, and you both will benefit.
