Day One Leadership: Stay Curious, Stay Relevant

So the big question is this, how do recruiting leaders like us who have 12 to 15 other job responsibilities win at this game of recruiting? How do we build a system that allows us to recruit effectively in a minimal amount of time while motivating recruits towards meaningful change? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Richard Milligan and welcome to Recruiting Conversations. Hey everybody, it's Richard Milligan, your host for Recruiting Conversations.

Welcome back to another podcast. Today I want to talk about an idea that's incredibly relevant for me right now in this season of business, which is that the pace of change has accelerated and it's been accelerating for a long time in reference to technology, consumer behavior shifting quickly, To the headwinds and also really within that the opportunities that leaders have to actually be dynamic, to grow their teams because they're dynamic.

And I just had this aha here recently, which is that In my own business, just like in your business, I have to have what I would call this day one mindset. It's, if you ever think about the time that you started something new, just pause for a moment and think about that. Like I started 4c recruiting in 2017 and I brought a lot of knowledge with me to it. But at the same time, there were a lot of unknowns.

And especially as I started to really get into starting the business, I realized there were a lot of things that I didn't know that were going to be significant challenges for me. And so I just took a moment and I was like, what was true about me in 2017 that's led to the success that I've had. That was also true about me when I started other new things. And I just, just started calling it day one mindset.

Like, what is it about a day one mindset that makes someone successful? Ever thought about like that, like you've had your own day ones, like when you got into your industry or when you got your first leadership opportunity, or there's just a number of them that happened over the course of life. And what's interesting is that there's a bit of a playbook there. If you think about it. And I think every leader right now needs to have this day one mindset. So let's just, let's just define it.

Like what does day one mindset mean? So I really said, let me put a definition to it. Here's what I came up with. It's an approach to each day, every task, and every opportunity with the same energy, Curiosity and focus as you would have on the first day of starting something new. It's connected to maintaining a beginner's enthusiasm, a beginner's adaptability, and a beginner's hunger for growth even as you gain experience.

So let's unpack that because the reason why I think it's relevant today is that Futurists say that one year is the equivalent of the prior 200 years combined in business. So it's, if you think about where you are and you go back 200 years ago, you're in the early 18 hundreds, okay. I think of someone from the early 18 hundreds, like arrived in this moment. They'd be, they would, they would be completely confused by all kinds of crazy things. That's the equivalent of one year in business.

I mean, just, just think about AI and the pace that ai. Has come on the scene over the last few years and how it's impacting business in such significant ways right now. Think about the shifts in consumer behavior, just in the two years that COVID was taking place. And even in the years that are now post COVID. I mean, I spent a lot of time in the data looking at things. And so I recently looked at some of the data around DoorDash pre COVID, during COVID, and post COVID.

I can recite some of this because I recently presented some of it to a number of executives. And pre COVID, DoorDash was doing 900, 000, 000 a year, approximately that number in total revenue. It's no surprise that during COVID it grew and it grew pretty significantly the first year in COVID. It grew again in the second year of COVID. So I was around 2. 8 million. 2. 8 million in 2020. It was around 4. 8 million in 2021. But you know what's surprising to a lot of people?

Is that it has grown exponentially post COVID. Why is that? Well, one of the reasons why is that one of the things that shifted for the consumer during COVID was this desire for convenience. The end that's really moved towards like a real driving force in business. I mean, I saw data recently where 56 percent of consumers now say that if they

order something online they expect it the very day they order it That's crazy. Like go back five years ago. That would have been ludicrous Just five years ago and now it's an expectation Like most people start their search with amazon today if you're going to buy something they start with amazon proof You Okay, I live on 50 acres. I have four horses, a mini donkey. Okay, I have a tractor. Okay, here's some interesting nuggets about Richard.

I recently ordered a tractor implement off of Amazon and got it in a couple of days. I can't make this stuff up. And so if I go back to the DoorDash conversation, what we know is that post COVID, it's continued to grow. In fact, in 2023, the revenue was around 8. 9 million in total revenue for that year. You go back and reflect on during COVID, it's almost doubled in size post COVID, and it doesn't show any sign of letting up.

So those are just a couple of small shifts if you look at the real estate and mortgage industry The national association of realtors recently did a survey they asked their consumer this question Would they prefer to have the mortgage company and a real estate company together?

And the number was like 89 percent of the consumers said they preferred that but that was like that was not even uh in the realm of possibility Until in 2022, HUD came out and released a statement saying that they would allow for that. This idea of like a dual licensed real estate agent who could be licensed on the mortgage side, but also licensed on the real estate side, that's new. And the consumer is not, is not only saying that's okay, the consumer is now demanding that.

level of convenience. I could go on all day here. I could talk about how, um, telemedicine is, has grown 38 times through COVID to this moment. I could talk about everything from, uh, just convenience items of where the consumer's demanding it. As a relationship to online shopping for groceries and delivery being demanded for that, the implications are really big in any business.

So when I look at this, I really think, I don't, I don't, if you're a leader in an industry for 25 years, I don't care. If you're a leader in an industry that's like in your first opportunity, it's year one right now, I don't care. You both have to have the same mindset. which is a day one mindset. So I asked myself the question because I've been, I have, I've met a lot of people.

I've coached a lot of people that have been really successful in day ones and multiple industries and multiple positions. Uh, I have personally been successful in a lot of my day one starting new initiatives. And, and I went back to this little window called day one. I said, what is true about day one? And the conclusion that I came to is that on day one, day one, We make three agreements. So I want you to think about this.

You make three agreements anytime that you start day one, whether it's conscious or subconscious, you make three agreements. And the first agreement that you make is this. You come to agreement with that, with this, with this, with this fact, you don't know everything and you're willing to invest heavily into knowing

the things that you don't know. You're willing to invest the knowledge. So you understand this thing. I don't know everything I need to know. So I'm willing to invest the knowledge. If you get 25 years into one industry, you'll find that a lot of leaders don't have that same mindset today. They've got to have that mindset if they're going to be successful. The second agreement that you make is this, is that you agree with this fact, there's going to be a wind of time.

There's going to be a season where your input Will not equal your output year one, 2017 starting foresee recruiting. I didn't complain at the end of month one when I wasn't completely loaded up on my calendar with consulting, with speaking, with events, with coaching, because I made this agreement. There's going to be a season where the energy that I put in is not going to equal something as something of a value. Thank you. The third agreement that we make is this.

I sat down with my family and had this conversation when I started this company of we're all in this together like that's not going to be as available for a window of time. I'm starting something brand new. The reason why is that I had sat down and I had established the fact that there was going to be a big cost of my time. There was going to be a big cost of my money. There was going to be a cost of what I could contribute to the people that I love that were around me.

And the commitment was that I was going to be successful regardless of the cost. You as a leader. Are at day one, whether you can come to this agreement or not, you're at day one. And let me share some of the things that are really true of you as leaders. If you're listening to this podcast, you're most likely a recruiting leader. What's a recruiting leader? It's a leader that is managing, leading a team, and then is also responsible for recruiting to that team.

One of the big things that's changed for you is that your personal brand is maybe the biggest mechanism for growing your team. Whether you will agree to this or not, your micro brand is, has much greater influence than your company macro brand.

Your brand is ultimately the digitization of your reputation. It's the digitization, try and say that word fast three times. It's the digitization of the amount of value that you can bring someone that's on your team. Your reputation historically has been very linear. You know one person, that person recommends you to another person, that person becomes a connection for you. But today it is no longer linear. It is exponential because of the digital world.

I have regularly three to five meetings on my calendar every week where I've never met the person ever. Haven't engaged with them on social, haven't had a phone call with them, never met them at some sort of like networking event.

But somehow they find me through my podcast, they find me through my brand, they find me through an article that I've written, and they end up on my live calendar in a Zoom room with me for the first time, wanting to find out more about how I could bring them value as a coach. Or as a consultant or at an event speaking, my reputation, just like your reputation is exponential today.

I'm one person, the liking my content piece on LinkedIn, who then feeds it to the second and third degree connections of everyone in their network to say this person's engaged with Richard from being seen by people that are maybe a hundred connections out or a thousand connections out or don't have a single connection, but one connection.

In my entire audience or in their entire audience, that's a major change for you as a leader, and that means that you as a leader are at day one right now as it relates to that, because these platforms, these digital platforms called social media are constantly shifting the algorithms, shifting what works, shifting how they perform and how or how you're seen or how the your landing page slash your profile looks, and You're, you're at day one constantly as it

relates to that part of your business. The other thing that's a big part of what is changing is that historically people could meet great leaders. And connect with them one time and at some level, then engage to move towards them. And today it requires much more energy or much more value being contributed to someone to get them to join your team. So this idea of like, you've got to bring more value than you've ever brought in order to become this, be in the same demand that you ever have been.

That's relatively new. And in one of the things that I'm coaching too, that I'm helping leaders to do. Is understand how to go get information that's a value and how to package it up in a way that they can deliver it operating as a journalist. Which, who, who, the journalists, if you think about them, they go find the thing of value and report on it versus trying to be the thing of value.

And, and so with the introduction of ChatGPT, how easy is it for me to come out here to a platform like YouTube, find something that's really valuable, take the transcript of that, put it into my ChatGPT with a couple of commands. Create a newsletter, create a PDF blueprint on how to actually run a successful, uh, business in this particular area or how to be successful in the arena of sales for a specific industry.

I don't have to really have the blueprint for that, but I can go out and find people that have produced content that represent a blueprint for that. It might be a podcast interview. It might be a YouTube interview. It might be something that they've written that they've posted on medium. com.

Or just in some sort of newsletter or in some form of publication that I can take and with a couple of commands can turn that into an idea that I could share and simply say, I was recently privy to a conversation with a top producer in my industry. And I wanted to give this to you as a blueprint for being successful in the upcoming year or the scripts you should be using to be a successful

salesperson approaching this particular avatar that you're pursuing that is relative the ability for you to scale an enormous amount of value. And you not be the person that have the idea around that value. That's brand new.

And over the next two or three years, you're going to see leaders that are dominating recruiting because they are great journalists that understand how to package that up with AI and then produce that to people that are the people in their markets that fit their avatar, that, that allows them to elevate the view of who they are, who you recruit, how you recruit. Okay. So again, how you recruit reveals who you are as a leader.

It's going to elevate the status of like, I'm a person of value to these individuals. It's going to have them moving towards them connected with this idea that their personal brand matters. So when they get searched on a platform, they are pulled up because this leader is now representing something that's dynamic in terms of their landing page called their homepage, their profile page, the content they're creating, right? These things are going to make them appear dynamic.

And are going to allow them to be more dynamic. That's, that's all that's new. So when you think about the things that are shifting, the client experience is improving exponentially. Technology is accelerating. Consumer behavior is accelerating. Microbranding is being, is being needed in order to beat macrobranding. You've got remote and hybrid work that are actually a thing people use depending on what generation you're a part of. Depends on how you, what you name it and how you define it.

All of the data driven decision making that's taking place today is is is in the marketplace, right? You have your top salespeople capturing more market share. Because they're selling skills are a completely another level because now you've got, you're able to access value from people that are world class in virtual rooms or coaching like you've never been able to. Virtual access gives them more access to people than ever before.

Like you start to name some of these things that are shifting for my audience, which is recruiting leaders who are typically on the sales side, recruiting sales type people. Things.

Are not going to be the same moving forward and when we as leaders can come to an agreement with that, one of the things that becomes true about us is that we will move towards constantly now forever into a day one mindset where we make these three agreements consistently every single year and we just define the things that are going to make the next year day one for us. Because there's constant information that we need to grow around. There's constant knowledge that we need to learn.

There's this constant commitment that, in this short season right now, the results that I may get from putting more effort into the specific things that are changing is not going to have an equal output.

But the things that you have learned in the past are going to produce a compounding A compounding effect in terms of your results, but the challenge is that the market will continue to move so that the metrics of what you're producing will continue to go up if you have this mindset and the gap here that's being created for what I would call static leaders versus dynamic leaders is growing exponentially. Year over year, aging leaders call, you know, aging is a loving term that I

would use for myself at the age of 51. Okay, you're aging leaders that aren't committed to the day one mindset are not going to be relevant in the future because they haven't embraced this. And so here's my challenge to you. You have got to get back to this. And if you will get back to this and you will learn the things that you don't know, and some of those things you don't even know that you need to know. So go on the journey of figuring out what you need to know. What's new?

What's impacting your industry? What are the things that are coming that are going to be of significance that you need to learn, that you need to understand? When I wrote my book in 2022, I learned blockchain technology and produced an NFT. Now, In full disclosure, I assigned someone on my team to go learn this because I was in the middle of like trying to get a book produced in a very short window of time.

But as a, as a, as a company, we understood blockchain technology, the importance of an NFT, and we packaged up 100 NFTs that we gave away. We did a book launch as part of this because I believe that blockchain is going to impact every one of you in a major way. I think the future of every industry is going to be hanging on blockchain technology, especially if you're in a transactional industry. This is true.

So your real estate insurance, mortgages, like those are all very transactional businesses. There's there's a constant steady stream of new opportunities, new deals, right? Constant churn of these things coming through your process and your pipeline.

I mean, that was one thing that I went on this journey of like, like reading books and listening to podcast and diving deep into understanding, like how it's structured through reading of articles and just trying to become knowledgeable around it so that I could shift and pivot in my business with it. And every one of you need to be thinking the same way about your business. about your industry, about your, the perspective of who you are as a leader in your market.

And if you will, the great news is that there are certain things that will never change. There are right now we're in a, we're in a, we're in an environment where forever now moving forward change is exponential. It's never going to look the same. It's going to always go faster, but there are a couple of things that will never change.

So here's your hope, because the challenge for you has become this person, but here's the hope in this, is that there's always a micro economy that exists in a macro economy. There's people in a macro economy, it can be down, it can be failing, and you will always find people whose micro economy is winning. And the leader who has this mindset, day one mindset, operates in a micro economy. It is a way to insulate your success.

The second premise in this, this is the second thing that will never change is this, is that the best always win. They have in the past, and they always will in the future.

When you make a commitment to this, you're making a commitment to being the best in your industry. And that is an insurance policy against you winning not just this year, but in future years. And the other thing I would say that's always been true, that's never, that's never going to change, it's going to be true in the future, is that your reputation is always going to matter. You represent yourself as a dynamic leader who's on the edge of change that understands it.

That's part of your reputation. Being seen as that dynamic leader is part of your reputation. The fact that your reputation in the past has been linear, yes, that's true. Okay, but, and today it's exponential. But the fact is that your reputation still matters whether it was linear in prior business environments or whether it was exponential as it is today. Your reputation will always matter. So you can look at those things and say those things are never going to change.

And so if I adopt this mindset, which has not been necessary historically, that you can guarantee future success. And I want to be that leader that's relevant regardless of my age. I want to be the leader that when, that I, that I make the decision that I can step out, that I can step away on my terms. And every one of you can do the same when you make the commitment to this. So that's the challenge is let's go be leaders that embrace a day one mindset.

And so until I talk to you again, here on my next podcast, thanks for being an audience listener, depending on where you will listen to this podcast, it might be year end, it might be the beginning of a year. It could be the middle of the year, but this is a great share.

If you are a leader that knows other leaders, if you're a leader that has other leaders underneath your tutelage, underneath your leadership, this is one that you've got to share and rally your community around this idea that we all need to have a day one mindset. So until the next time, have a great week, everybody. Want more recruiting conversations? You can register for my weekly email at 4crecruiting. com.

If you need help creating your own unique recruiting system, you can book a time with me at bookrichardnow. com.