Executive Resumes, Personal Branding & Executive Job Search

Interview Keeping "Moments of Truth" in Mind

Posted by Tyrone Norwood

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Apr 8, 2010 7:43:00 AM

 

My morning mood was elevated by reading one of Tom Peter's blogs about his mornings and the key ingredient that made them "good." He talks about the server at his local bistro who greeted him in a friendly way and went about her business with quiet competency. And how she started his day off on a good footing just by being who she was, even though he didn't even know her name.


He then goes on to talk about the importance of such "Moments of Truth" in making businesses run better. Here's what he said:

"...business ("life," too, of course) rises or falls on the nature and character of what the great SAS boss, Jan Carlzon, called "moments of truth"—those fleeting moments of true human contact that define our enterprise's excellence—or lack thereof."

In the midst of all our work coaching clients to ace an interview, we probably don't pay enough attention to helping people make a genuine connection with the interviewer. How to do that? Put away the interview "nerves" and the belief that you are being judged and substitute it with a truly collegial attitude - in which the you are identified with the interviewer's pain or challenges and you sincerely establish yourself as someone who can help with the solution(s).

If you lift the day of the interviewer as your day is lifted by every single moment of pleasantness, generosity and caring that you encounter, you will be remembered and (hopefully) presented with an offer. Such an attitude - that breaks through the superficiality and indifference of so many human encounters - is good in its own right, not just for business.

Can you think of a time when you encountered a "moment of truth" and were changed for the better by it?

Topics: personal branding, executive resumes, interviewing

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Tyrone Norwood