Monday, July 11, 2011

Impressive and Aggressive

Someone was asking lately, what were the qualities of the people getting the best jobs these days. They knew it had to be something more illustrative than rockstar, ninja, guru .


What came to mind was Impressive and Agressive. If someone has done something that makes an impression, they stand out because they did or can do something of distinction.


It could be any number of things. They were a member of the Olympic water polo team, or earned a PHD in philosophy before studying computer science. Maybe they sold their first web app when they were in high school or worked their way through college as a fortune teller. They could have won a regional chess tournament or organized a charity event that raised $50,000 for a good cause.


It doesn't have to be something huge but it will probably be outstanding. It might be over coming the odds, demonstrating significant traction in their career or building a cool little app as a side project.


There are any number of ways a person can be impressive and you will know it when you see it.
You will recognize impressive because you will think "not everyone could do that" and remember them.


As you spend some time with them, you realize that this person is also aggressive in their approach to life. Not macho meat head jock aggressive, but more throttled and goal focused aggressive, that is all about execution and GSD.


They are intellectually curious, thoughtful, thirsty for knowledge or a challenge. They have demonstrated they can put in the hard work to acheive distinction.


The next time you are tempted to use SUPERSTAR, rockstar or any of the other terms currently overused in job descriptions, stop yourself, and think about a more substantive and descriptive term that will attract the people you seek.