Perfectly Inspired

by The Red Recruiter on March 2, 2010

I mess up a lot.  In fact, it’s a daily occurrence.

I can’t remember the last time I ended the day saying to myself… “Wow Michael, that was a perfect day!”

Wouldn’t that be something!

Every day brings a series of challenges, failures and successes.  Over the years, I’ve learned that it has everything to do with the way I accept or reject those ingredients.

Come to think of it, my definition of perfection has really shifted over the years.  Whereas the ideal of a perfect day used to mean that nothing would go wrong – now the perfect 24 hour period includes a few bumps in the road… a few opportunities to reflect and ask “What could I have done differently?”

No mistakes, no lessons.  No lessons, no improvement.  No improvement… stagnancy – YUCK!

Alicia Arenas Keeps It Real

I don’t usually blog about blogs… in fact, I think I may have only done it once or twice.

I read a post today by Alicia Arenas from Sanera (one of our guest bloggers).  She wrote a great piece titled “Alicia 1 Perfectionism 0″.  Go read it!

Over the past year, Alicia has become quite a blogger.  I respect her style and approach because it’s real, it means something and she doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers.  Her advice comes from the perspective of a person that truly cares… and I think that you can sense that once you read her work.

Perhaps this is why Alicia and I are friends.  We both care enough to be real with one another… failures and successes on full display.

Your style is refreshing Alicia!  Keep it up!

So… what’s the value in highlighting your failures?

If you want to find people who talk about doing things the right way, you won’t have to look far.

Go to Google and look for “How To” (in quotes) – if you’re feeling lazy, I’ll make it easy… 704,000,000 results.

Now try it again by entering “How Not To” – 42,000,000 results.

Let’s face it, people don’t usually like to talk about what went wrong – it requires personal and public accountability… scary stuff!  “How Not To” would require a whole bunch of the ingredients we all too often dread.

But, I challenge you to this.  Think back through all of your memorable or meaningful relationships.  Further, think about the people that you respect or admire.

Were they always right?  Or, were they the people who gave you the truth and opened up… even if that meant exposing their imperfections?

For me, it’s always been the later.  Those were the people who taught me something of value… not to mention the positive examples of humility.

Life changes quickly and the surprises are endless.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve bounced up against the walls of adversity a few times in the process.  I’m all the better for the lessons and appreciative to friends like Alicia for embracing the beauty of reality.

Ever notice how imperfect a rose is?  Amazing isn’t it ;-)

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who presumed to know all the right answers?  What was your lasting impression?

Photo Credit, digital cat 

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#TruLondon Wrap Up

by The Red Recruiter on February 20, 2010

I have always wanted to visit England, I just never took time out to do so.  Life has a way of making it possible to find excuses… I’m glad that wasn’t the case this time.

Visiting Rackspace

My week started out with visiting my UK Rackspace colleagues at their offices here in London.

Everyone was fantastic and we had a jolly good time taking pictures of the team!

They were also kind enough to give me some tips and hints about visiting the downtown part of the city.  Here is one of the team shots… a bit of fun with hats!  The other shots turned out hilarious as well!

#TruLondon – Day 1

On Thursday, I attended the #TruLondon event at the TwitJobSearch facilities.

The room was packed with Recruiters and HR professionals from all over Europe and the U.S.  The energy was palpable!

Pictured are Bill Boorman of TruConferences.com and Lucian Tarnowski of BraveNewTalent.com.

Over the course of the day, I attended a variety of sessions that I mentioned in my last post.  While I enjoyed them all, the session on Employment Branding spurred my interest the most.

It’s very interesting to learn about the varying opinions and how they may form the future of this topic… both in theory and practical application.

#TruLondon – Day 2

Day two was interesting as well!

With the crowd of day one thinned out a bit, it was easier to chat with different people and take advantage of my favorite “UnConference” benefit… informal sessions!

With rooms full of some of the brightest, most curious and sometimes, opinionated people in our industry, it’s never difficult to start up a conversation… or a debate ;-)

Pictured is Jim Stroud “The Searchologist” after having delivered a poem on recruiting… it was pretty funny and brought some meaning to Recruiting Prose ;-)

Definitely something your not likely to see at a normal conference… unless of course Jim takes this show on the road!

Outside The Conference

As most people who attend will agree, one of the most exciting parts of coming to a meet-up of this sort is the socializing that goes on after the day (or two in this case) concludes.  #TruLondon was no exception!

So, as you may have guessed, I snapped a few pictures of the event.  You can check out the photo stream above or go directly to Flickr to check out all of the pictures.  Here are some of my favorites:

Laurie Ruettimann and Sarah White

Bill Boorman, Jim Stroud and a joyous crew!

Maren Hogan brainstorming up industry change! ;-)

London at night.  In front of Strand Palace Hotel.

As always, I appreciate you stopping by!

There is a ton of content that has been created from this event and ideas are brewing!  I’m sure I’ll be back soon with some digested thoughts about the topics discussed.

A special thanks to Bill Boorman and Geoff Webb for organizing this event!  You guys did a great job pulling in a substantial crowd that was very interested in the topics.  Nicely done!

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#TruLondon – Conference Day 1

February 18, 2010 Social Media

It was a great first day of the conference!
Bill Boorman gathered together quite a crowd to enjoy the 2nd UnConference of it’s type here in London.
Lots of discussion, debate and, of course, fish and chips, all went in to making today interesting.
I attended a number of tracks today as I wandered from room to room [...]

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New Road Ahead

February 16, 2010 Social Media

I arrived to London… and what an adventure it was getting here!
From Texas, the flight headed to Dulles Airport.  After circling over the airport for about 45 minutes, the pilot announced that we were running out of fuel… Ummmmmm.
So, we headed to Baltimore where we proceeded to land – and then sit on the runway [...]

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London Or Bust!

February 15, 2010 Michael Long

It’s time for TruLondon!
I’ve never been to London, or Europe for that matter, and I’m really excited!
The very amiable Bill Boorman is hosting the second TruLondon conference this coming week and it’s sure to be an exciting and informative event.
With speakers from all over the U.S. and Europe, the topics span from best practices in [...]

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Always Be Closing… and Recruiting

February 5, 2010 Michael Long

“The good news is – you’re fired. The bad news is – you’ve got, all of you’ve got just one week to regain your jobs starting with tonight.” – Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross
Wouldn’t that be a fun and interesting way to start off your work week!?!
What if, starting today, you had one week [...]

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How to get started with social media as a recruiter

February 1, 2010 Recruiting

I recently received an email from a recruiter who is just getting started out with the joys of social media.
One piece of the email went like this:
“… I feel and know I am lacking in the knowledge of social network recruiting.  I have been getting up to speed with a number of blogs, but am [...]

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Family Tradition Meets Social Media

January 25, 2010 Random

Back in the mid-90’s, my Dad dedicated a substantial amount of time researching our family tree and history.
I remember this time period very vividly as he would always show up with some new evidence of our past – perhaps a tracing of a headstone from some remote cemetery on the East Coast or a picture [...]

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Social Media Recruiting and The Bottom Line

January 15, 2010 Recruiting

At the age of 9, I realized that if I purchased a large bag of gum (100 pieces) for $5.00, I could sell the entire bag at school at a rate of $.25 per piece OR $25.00 per bag.  Kids would find me and purchase the gum right before my classes – perhaps an hour [...]

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Grateful for 2009

December 31, 2009 Social Media

I felt a bit of pressure to write something today…
No one was breathing down my neck imposing this on me… I just felt it.  The end of the year has a way of marking the final stop on a journey and opening possibilities for the next.  Perhaps the pressure came from a desire to move [...]

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