About Round Pegs in Square Holes
How many times have you heard, “no-problem you’re a shoe-in for that job,” only to be rejected. Or, you’ve said, “I can do anything just send me in coach,” only to find that once in the game you were unfamiliar with the rules and floundered badly.
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): Don’t be a round peg, trying to fit into a square hole. You will be unhappy, your employer will be unhappy and you may suffer the indignity of being let go because you are not a good fit.
Those of us who have spent time in the military in leadership positions are a confident lot. I recall that when I retired, many years ago, I decided to start my own business. I thought, hell, I worked my way up through the ranks from private to colonel, how hard can this be. Turns out, a lot harder than I thought. After two years of on the job training and never turning a profit, I decided to get a “real” job. Having been humbled by that experience, I took an entirely different approach and eventually did very well in my future business endeavors.
Culture and Competence
Being a “good fit” has two dimensions. One has to do with culture, the other with competence. You can have expert knowledge and be a great leader, innovator, and one who gets the job on time and within budget; but if you are a no-nonsense authoritarian leader who breaks a few eggs now and then you will probably fail the culture test. There are about 56 million Millennials in the workforce today and by 2020 nearly half (46 percent) of all U.S. workers will be Millennials. In my experience, most Millennials are the polar opposite of no-nonsense, straight-laced military professionals.
One of my former clients, an Army officer with tremendous experience, took a job as a chief of staff for an entrepreneurial engineering firm. Once hired, he found out he was one of the oldest employees. The laid-back atmosphere of the company, dismissive attitude of the younger workers, their lack of punctuality and their irreverence for authority was disconcerting. Before the end of first month, the head of HR sent him for anger management classes. Five months later, he was let go. They told him they had “reorganized” and eliminated his job—it was a crushing experience.
In a survey by JobVite, recruiters’ rated culture fit at 88 percent above previous job experience at 87 percent. The challenges for the job seeker is how to determine a company’s culture before accepting a job. While some companies may provide information about their culture on their website, most don’t. Go into each new job with your eyes and ears open. And, as my old drill sergeant was fond of saying, “Make sure the brain is engaged before putting the mouth in gear.”
No matter whom you end up working for, be prepared to make an adjustment. Be humble, be flexible, and be open to change.
