- Passion and enthusiasm.
Everyone should have it, no matter your age and experience. In fact, you should have it, despite your age, as it keeps you vital, forever youthful and alert. It is contagious and refreshing, a virtue that helps overcome obstacles on your path.
We opened in July 2010, and something you likely do not know, we had no name, no website, no business card, just an office, phone, computer and one staff member. I was determined to open on the first Monday in July, name or no name. I had a business plan, experience, faith, and a desire to be my own boss, and that was it. I would not recommend this strategy to everyone starting out!
But at least I was not a procrastinator! A few weeks later, we had our name, est10 – established in 2010. Many naysayers said, ‘don’t make it so obvious you are brand new’. Well, that was exactly the message I wanted. We got through that first year with our passion, enthusiasm, and excitement. I highly recommend it for anything you do, and in high doses – it gets you places!
- Surround yourself with the best people, team, and advisors.
Hire, engage and be with smart, capable, self-aware, confident people. And people with great attitudes. In our search for happiness and satisfaction in life and work, these are the people to support our vision, celebrate the victories and understand and accept us, even when not at our best.
You can ask for their advice, opinion, and thoughts and count on them for an abundance of reality checks and intelligent observations. I do this daily with the team at EST10. And by the way, we hire on smarts, EQ, values, and attitude. I am also fortunate enough to do this with my clients, candidates, and suppliers. As a business owner, you cannot do everything yourself; you must rely on others. Give yourself the very best of people to do this.
- Marketing, branding, and messaging.
Know what your brand stands for and stick to it. Make sure all messaging, values, actions, and behaviours follow suit. This is for you and your team as well. Only hire people who believe in your brand and whose values resonate.
- Integrity and reputation.
It is the only thing that matters. When both are present and recognised, you sleep well, and whoever runs a business knows that peaceful sleep is equally important as profit! Use it as a navigator to guide you during difficult decision-making times.
- Gratitude, appreciation and the silver lining!
Feel it and show it. I feel happiness and contentment when feeling grateful for the many different aspects of my life; family, health, my business, clients, candidates, and the people I work with. It helps me to deal with and cope with the tougher times. It puts everything into perspective. We all love to know we are appreciated, so show it! It helps you to be emotionally and psychologically healthier!
- Hire a Jenny.
Everyone needs a Jenny. The Jenny I refer to works at EST10 and started with us in 2012. She worked with us in Australia and, upon returning to the UK, continued working with EST10 remotely (well before remote was a thing!). During that time, Jenny married and had two children and two guinea pigs! She is highly competent, trustworthy, reliable, smart, dependable, and all the great things that make someone highly employable.
Now interesting, a Jenny is also a female donkey, and guess what, I love, love, love donkeys. They are on my farm list! Also, unbeknownst to me, in the urban dictionary, a Jenny is a ‘girl who acts as a true sister’. She may not be a bloodline relative, but she will care for you no matter what’, and that is our Jenny!
- Get a business mentor.
It is one of the best decisions I made in my time at EST10. Having a mentor might seem odd at my age, but we all should keep learning and developing. This person does not mentor me in recruitment but rather in providing feedback, and sometimes brutally so. And that is ok as I need it! The right mentor will always have your best interests at heart, and the trust must be implicit. They have helped me grow and develop and become a better manager, leader, and person. All of this, in turn, helps to manage stress and increases coping ability.
Through this person, I have worked hard on improving my self-awareness, and that has assisted my confidence, self-esteem and made me calmer and a much better manager. When you are a business owner or in a senior role, who will tell you if you are wrong or provide feedback? You run out of people who can offer real honest feedback necessary for your continued growth. This person does just that. Be brave and get a great mentor.
- Be a perfectionist, it’s OK.
We have been told being a perfectionist is not so good. Or at least it is not the most desirable trait to have. Why do we do this? I am not about to write the complete psychological aspects and downfalls of being a perfectionist – that is not what I am talking about. I am referring to the pride in getting something right and striving to a high standard. It might be fair to say, I primarily expect it from myself and whilst it translates to some extent to our working environment, what is wrong with that?
In the past, I have been criticised for being a ‘perfectionist’; well, bad luck – it is what got me here today. I also respect that part of myself. Would you want the pilot on the plane you just boarded to be great on detail, checking everything is 100%, have high standards and not accept half ok as being good enough? Thought so.
Perfectionism is much maligned. I might even write a blog about it! That is how strongly I feel about the topic. Leave us perfectionists, alone! Oscar Wilde said it beautifully, and whoever knows me can relate to his words: “I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back again.” 😊
- Know your triggers.
Mine are ‘victims’, otherwise known as people who will not take responsibility, be accountable or take on feedback. Our brand and culture are unsuitable for their needs, and they would not thrive in our environment. I tried.
Uncovering this trigger was a welcome relief. A little like finally knowing you are gluten intolerant. It has made a world of difference to how we hire internally at EST10. Fine-tuning the cultural fit of our environment has meant the selection criteria inching up, but it also resulted in our staff retention going through the roof. Since refining, we have not lost one consultant to a competitor, which has been over 8 years. It has made the team at EST10 very special. Working with such great individuals gives you confidence and trust and builds a great business.
- Learn how to fall back in love with your job.
I am grateful for the pandemic for this. I did not realise I needed a bit of a boost (nothing like having your business wiped out to do it!) and recharge. The pandemic forced me and gave me the time to relook at every aspect of our business and make it better.
- Never give up, and always have faith.
Not to sound like a sports slogan and evangelist all in one, but never give up and never lose faith. Accept the bad days, go with them, but don’t allow them to paralyse you. Know the next day will be better or a brighter day is right around the corner. Or, as quoted by my treasured heroine, also much maligned, Scarlett O’Hara in my all-time favourite movie, ‘Gone with the wind’, ‘After all, tomorrow is another day!’.
- Relationships, relationships, relationships.
This is what makes our business, makes everything worthwhile and what makes the highest human experience. It is what provides me with the most satisfaction, joy and comfort and what I treasure the very most about the past 12 years, all our clients, candidates, suppliers, and the team at EST10.
The intrinsic, warm feeling of trusted relationships is indescribable. They make a horrid day magical.
Here’s to another 12 years!
“Never pass up new experiences, Scarlett. They enrich the mind.” – Gone with the Wind
