An edge is all you need to get ahead in the world of executive search. You either close the deal or you don’t, and sometimes you get the account by a hair compared to your competitors. So just a slight edge is all it takes sometimes to win the competition’s business away from them.
Here’s how to get and keep an edge as it relates to your attitude. Remember that in search the whole decision to hire someone or to explore another opportunity is made subjectively based on the emotions, not the intellect, of the candidate and client. And one way you can sway them over to your side, assuming you have all the other components in place and the fit is a mutual satisfaction of needs, is to attract them to you with your insatiably positive attitude.
This will give you an attitude edge as a recruiter.
Many people believe that to be a good recruiter, you need to have a caustic arrogant attitude. That’s just a cover-up for insecurity.
The truly successful recruiters protect themselves from negative thoughts and low-level attitudes. They stay positive all the time. But it is nearly impossible in a profession to stay up all the time where the real “work” is to overcome all the rejection and witness the energy loss and time loss of deals that don’t get closed, sales that get missed, and opportunities that go to someone else.
So how does a recruiter create and sustain an attitude so positive that it actually contributes energy back into his or her life?
Part of it has to do with daily affirmations. But that only goes so far. Plus, if you remember to do them, they start sounding rote and boring. So try something much more simple, much more powerful, and much easier to remember than affirmations.
It’s a power phrase. Or call it a mantra. Or call it a short little phrase that gives you a burst of energy and creates the attitude of positive expectation in your life.
Here’s what I have used for many years and this little powerful and potent phrase has helped thousands of sales professionals all over the world:
“Today is going to be the most exciting day of my life.”
Say it as you are driving into work tomorrow. Say it with expectancy. If you don’t believe that this will work or make a difference, try it for a week and send me an email telling me I was wrong.
But this short pithy phrase of positive power can give you the edge that you need to stay more positive, more focused, more disciplined, and more aggressive in reaching your goals. It can give you enough energy to get the edge and get the business.
Remember that an edge, no matter how slight, is still an edge, and sometimes that is all it takes to win the business.
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Scott Love, guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog and owner of The Attorney Search Group, trains, motivates, and inspires recruiters to achieve greatness in the profession. Visit his online recruiter training center for tips, downloads, videos, and articles that can help you increase your recruiter billings.