In talking with our esteemed Editor Paul Tarricone about this month’s column, he suggested writing a column about “building your brand,” and I thought it would be fun to put a bit of a spin on his great suggestion. Most of the columns I’ve written for LD+A are directed toward hiring managers, presidents, HR professionals or people with at least 10 years of experience in our industry, so it might be interesting to switch it up and dedicate this column to Emerging Professionals—lighting’s stars of the future.
Not all of this may resonate with you, but if you get one or two things that help you, Godspeed, and if you find that one of these ideas does take you to another level, I would love to hear about your experience! So, let’s get started:
- Every man is my wiser and that I may learn from him. I really believe that you can learn something from every single person you meet, whether it’s a big or little thing, something good, or possibly something you learn you want to avoid doing or saying yourself. If you feel you can learn something from each person you talk to, you’ll find you are automatically treating everyone with a little more respect.
- Watch out for that ladder. My mom used to say to me when I was very young, “on the ladder of life, you meet the same people on the way up that you do on the way down.” It made as much sense to me then as it does now. If you treat people nicely early on, and you are genuine and respectful toward them later on, when you’re going through a difficult patch, you will find people to generally be more supportive of you. And karmically, it’s just a good thing to do.
- Be flexible and demonstrate initiative. Ask your manager if there’s anything else you can do to help, if you can take something off their plate. If you do this regularly, you’ll not only be helping someone else on your team, but I found this will come back to you in good ways. But do it because it’s the right thing to do—not because of some good thing you’re hoping to get back out of it later.
- Believe in yourself. You can create your own opportunities. When I was in college, I saw an ad at the library for a local radio station looking for a disc jockey to handle an evening shift. I looked at the ad every time I was there but was afraid to apply, thinking I probably wouldn’t be good enough. A couple of weeks later, I finally did apply only to find out that the position had just been filled. Rather than just hanging up the phone and giving up, I asked the employer if it would be okay if I still came to just watch as he ran his shift because the business really fascinated me. He was a little surprised, but he agreed and the next day I was there watching him run his shift on the air. At one point he said aloud to himself, “Need to get a Coke.” I offered to get it for him. Occasionally I’d ask him questions during his shift and offered to help out with any little thing I could. Before I left I thanked him, and he said I was welcome to come by and visit anytime. And I did so the next day! So, there I was again—observing him work and helping him out however I could—but learning each time I watched. Then, a few weeks later, I got a call from the same manager saying they had an opening. I ended up a radio personality on the night shift for a couple of years, even garnering a small fan club that would write me letters. Okay, they were first and second graders at a local elementary school, but it was still a fan club, right?I learned not to procrastinate and just go for it! Don’t think yourself unworthy, it never hurts to try! Though I missed my opportunity, I was somehow given a second chance. Because it was something I was passionate about, I just continued to learn and soak in the experience. Sometimes opportunity knocks if you just stand at the door long enough.
- Be available and play nice in the sandbox. In an earlier life, I was drummer in a band. I was a pretty good drummer, but not the best around by a long shot. There were other drummers in the area that were definitely better than me, but I always got opportunities to play with bands, and my bands would stay with me as long as they were together. The reasons for that are that I was always willing to help out in any extra ways I could to make our band better; arrived a little early; always had a good attitude; and played well with others that would show up for practice and gigs. One other thing—I checked my ego at the door.
- Self-deprecation can be a great ally. In the right situation, in order to break the ice, or to lighten up a tense conversation, a little joke at your own expense is never a bad thing—sometimes it can work wonders. Plus, it’s a good way to just show that you don’t take yourself too seriously. I learned this from hearing a very accomplished professional open a talk by telling a brief, true story that ended up with him being the butt of the joke in his punchline. This totally surprised me, but it was certainly endearing to see, and it made him very relatable. I’ve since seen other successful people do this, and I think it’s a wonderful trait that shows a looseness and a humility that can be endearing to people.
- Be honest (but in a respectful and diplomatic way). No passive aggressive stuff. If there’s somebody you disagree with, make your case respectfully. If you convince them to accept your point of view, awesome, but if not, accept it. What you have shown is that you’re an honest communicator, and this builds rapport.
- The eyes have it. Always look people in the eye, whether it’s your roommate, partner at home, your boss, a coworker or the person across the counter ringing up a purchase. I was taught to respect the sanitation engineer just the same as you would treat the president. People deserve your respect regardless of their position.
- Titles don’t really matter. I was taught to respect the sanitation engineer just the same as you would treat the president. People deserve your respect regardless of their position.
- The Golden Rule. I feel the virtual eye rolls, and the “SMH” comments, but don’t laugh yet. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you may sound hackneyed, but I look at it this way: almost every time I’ve had to apologize for something (yeah, it still happens), I think of how I would feel if the same thing had been done to me. If I’d thought about that in the first place, I might not even end up in the situation where my apology was needed.
- You can have everything in life you want… if you will just help other people get what they want. This is not mine, but from the great writer Zig Ziglar. I heard this early in my recruiting career and its altruism appealed to me—and ultimately it became almost an unofficial mission statement of Pompeo Group. So, if I were speaking with my 22-year-old self, I think that these are the lessons I would try to impart. Now would my 22-year-old self listen? That’s another story for another day.
Paul Pompeo is president of The Pompeo Group (www.pompeo.com), an executive recruiting firm in lighting, controls, electrical and IoT.