People are much more likely to trust you, work with you, or buy from you if you give them a reason to Give A Sh*t. That's the “GAS Factor,” and it's what sets TalentBridge apart from every other staffing organization I’ve seen.
Today I’d like to talk a little bit about TalentBridge and what makes them so special. Before I met with them, I assumed TalentBridge was like every other staffing company I’ve spoken with over the course of my job hunt.
I figured they would take a look at my resume, have a cursory conversation with me about my expertise (WHAT I do) and experience (HOW I do it), then share my bio with every organization they could find that was looking to improve its marketing. In short, I figured my experience with them would be transactional. I walk in, we talk, they help me find a job with the highest bidder. End of story.
I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.
Inspiring Action
TalentBridge’s Vision statement says they want to “Be the trusted partner to the people we serve, transforming lives and communities.” To that end, their Mission statement says, “We connect people with their purpose, building long-term relationships and creating success stories for our clients and candidates through meaningful talent solutions.”
There’s a lot to unpack there, but what makes TalentBridge so special is the relational GAS Factor they’ve identified here, the why behind the what. In his groundbreaking TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” Simon Sinek talks at length about understanding the power of our “why,” and posits that what we do simply proves what we believe.
If we rearrange TalentBridge’s Vision a bit and focus on their why first, it becomes clear why I had such an amazing experience. Their true mission is “To transform lives and communities by being the trusted partner to the people they serve!”
That’s a fantastic reason to get out of bed every morning, and the TalentBridge team clearly embraces it with a burning passion. They understand that strong relationships foster a sense of loyalty and help drive employees' passion to build a successful organization.
This contributes to long-term stability by reducing turnover and creating "raving fans" who help inspire similar passions among new employees.
If we apply the same filter to the company’s Mission statement, we can flip the script even more. TalentBridge’s why-based Mission statement might read, “Success begins with personal connections that bloom into long-term relationships. We help our clients build loyal, stable, and passionate teams by connecting them with candidates who share their values.”
That really resonates with me.
Maya Angelou once said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
I couldn’t agree more, and it’s clear TalentBridge pursues the same lofty ideal.
It was obvious from the second I walked off the elevator and into the lobby that I was in for a special experience. I can't tell you how refreshing the entire visit was, from the friendly woman who greeted me at the front desk, to the warm smiles and friendly "hellos!" from literally everyone who passed me.
No Ordinary Interview
To call this an interview deeply undersells the experience. The team’s questions were designed to get me talking about myself, not just my experience. They understood that my resume and qualifications spoke for themselves, so they spent their time getting to know the person behind the paper through insightful and probative – but respectful – questions designed to uncover my values, my motivations, and my passions.
By the time we finished, I knew that the TalentBridge team understood me, and I fully trusted them connect me with companies whose values and motivations matched my own. Of course, as it turned out, the company whose values most closely matched mine turned out to be TalentBridge itself! Why?
Let’s go back to Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, where he states that those who start with why have the ability to either inspire others or to find others who inspire them. This begged the question: which of these best reflects my beliefs?
I'd argue that it's actually two sides of the same coin. The people who inspire me (Brian Buffini, John Pavlovitz, Gary Vaynerchuk) have made it their life's work to inspire others. I pore over their work and internalize their lessons because I truly believe that I can transform lives in my community by inspiring and encouraging those around me.
If success begins with personal connections and shared values, then TalentBridge is well on the way to achieving its mission of connecting people with their purpose, and I’m looking forward to helping them share the story of how they uncover those values and build long-term relationships as their new Marketing Director.
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. See you next time!