by Ken Coleman
A Healthy Challenge
The second key to growing as a professional is surrounding yourself with high-achieving peers who perform with excellence and challenge you to do the same. The 1992 USA Olympic Basketball team—known as the Dream Team—understood this well. The Dream Team is arguably the greatest collection of basketball players in history. The roster was made up of big names like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The Dream Team beat its Olympic opponents by a ridiculous average of almost forty-four points a game. It was an incredible thing to see.
You will experience the most growth when you surround yourself with talented people who challenge you to perform at a higher level.
But what was even more incredible than that was “The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw,” the nickname given to a legendary practice scrimmage before the actual Olympic games were played. Team USA vs. Team USA. Team Blue vs. Team White. Team Blue was led by Magic Johnson and included Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Chris Mullin, and Christian Laettner. And Team White was led by Michael Jordan and included Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, and Larry Bird. Behind closed doors these guys had something to prove—not to the world, because the world wasn’t watching—but to themselves. They were all the best of the best, so they challenged and pushed each other to an even higher level of excellence.50
Occasionally I talk with people on my show who say they want to become the all-star employee at their company. And I have to tell them that while it’s great that they want to work hard and excel at their company, focusing on being the all-star can actually limit their growth. The truth is you will experience the most growth when you surround yourself with talented and hardworking people who consistently challenge you to perform at a higher level. This is the kind of attitude and mind-set that put the “dream” in the Dream Team. They weren’t out there trying to get recognition for themselves. They were working together to win for the team. And that’s what you should do in your own place to grow.
A Clear Path Forward
The third and final key element you should look for in your place to grow is a clear path forward. My friend Sean was able to find this in a teaching role. Sean loved the idea of inspiring young writers as an English professor at a university. So after finishing his graduate work, he got to work researching which universities would give him the best chance at a coveted full-time teaching position. He interviewed with several department chairs at local colleges. Then he further narrowed his search by determining which universities had professors close to retirement and which had growing enrollments. Sean’s research and discovery paid off. He knew he couldn’t just step into his dream job full time, so he accepted a role as an adjunct professor at a university in Pittsburg that showed opportunity for a clear path forward.
Sean’s adjunct position got him in proximity to the position he really wanted, and he used the part-time gig as a place to grow. He spent the next two years teaching the classes that no one else wanted to teach—at the hours no one else wanted to teach them—while earning just enough to pay his bills. Even as an adjunct professor, he was able to quickly establish himself as an influential instructor, which then earned him a full-time position. Several years later Sean became tenured and he continues to grow and push himself in his career. His next goal is to become the department chair. Sean put in the time and energy to find a place with a clear path for advancement, and then he performed at a high level to get in proximity to his dream job.
Finding a place to grow that aligns with your values, challenges and pushes you to become better, and offers a clear path forward will help advance your career in ways you never imagined possible. Don’t get discouraged if when you start looking the first few places don’t have one or two of these key elements. Keep at it! Keep turning over rocks and doing your research. Companies like this do exist. And they are looking for people just like you to join their team!
FINDING YOUR PLACE TO GROW
When I look back on my own journey, it’s clear that my leap from Atlanta to Nashville to work for Dave Ramsey gave me the perfect place to grow. I’d discovered my places to learn—with education and jobs where I learned the fundamentals of broadcasting. I’d found my places to practice—taking unpaid gigs like calling high school football games. And I’d had great opportunities in my places to perform—hosting events and my own radio show. Now Ramsey Solutions was my place to grow.
I changed my zip code for three reasons. First, I wanted to do the kind of work that would change people’s lives and give them hope. That is the focus of Dave’s company, so I knew the core mission and values of Ramsey Solutions aligned with my own. Second, I wanted to be challenged to grow by the excellent people I worked with. Dave already had a team of some of the most talented professionals I could imagine, so I knew I’d be surrounded by a “dream team” that would push me to raise my game and perform at my best. And third, I wanted to work somewhere with a clear path forward. I knew that if I came to work for Dave and busted my butt with a great attitude, growth would eventually come. Choosing to work with Ramsey Solutions continues to be one of the greatest professional decisions I’ve ever made. And I want you to have that same experience.
If you are faithful about walking through each stage of the process and you’re willing to put The Proximity Principle to work, you will naturally build the foundation of success that will lead you to your place to grow. Then it will be time to implement some strategies and practices to finish your climb and reach the summit.
The Proximity Process
1. Write down the values and type of work culture that matters deeply to you.
2. Make a list of the companies that have your dream job whose core mission, values, and culture matches what matters to you.
3. Determine whether those companies have a clear path forward.
PART 3
THE PRACTICES
A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.
—Colin Powell
In 1988 Nike launched a new marketing campaign with the slogan “Just Do It.” What few people know is that when the idea was initially pitched by the advertising agency, everyone at Nike hated it. When they ran with it anyway, it became huge. Most importantly that decision was a major turning point for the brand. “Just Do It” became Nike’s signature slogan and is now virtually synonymous with the brand. The phrase helped boost sales for the company which, at the time, was struggling to keep up with Reebok, and now, over thirty years later, the slogan is still as strong as ever.
This could be your moment. Stop dreaming about it and start doing something about it.
But why? Why did the slogan “Just Do It” resonate so strongly with people? I think it’s because the message is so simple.51 It says, “No more excuses.” No more excuses for not seeing the results you want. No more excuses for not getting up and getting moving. No more excuses for not pushing yourself to where you want to be. No more excuses for not winning. This is the mind-set you have to adopt if you want The Proximity Principle to work for you! No more excuses.
In the first two parts of this book, I’ve shown you who you need to be around and where you need to put yourself. That’s The Proximity Principle. It’s tried and true. It works if you do. You’ve just got to do it. You have to step out before you can step up. Then you keep stepping until you step into your dream job. But you’ve got to decide. You have to put your stake in the ground and do something to make it happen. This could be your moment. Stop dreaming about it and start doing something about it.
Now, in the last section of the book, we are going to talk about what you need to do after you’ve identified the right people and places. In this stage, you’ll do four specific things that I call “The Proximity Practices.” These are essential to helping you finish your climb to the summit. You’ll work on:
1. Creating a Web of Connections
2. Making Your Connections Count
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3. Seizing the Opportunity
4. Adopting a Proximity Mind-set
Ready? Let’s do this.
Chapter 12
Creating a Web of Connections
Pulling a good network together takes effort, sincerity and time.
—Alan Collins
Think back to when you were sixteen years old and needed gas money. Unless you were super lucky, your parents probably pushed you out the front door to go find your very first job. And I’d venture to guess getting that first job wasn’t very hard. The process was pretty straightforward. More than likely, someone you already knew connected you to a producer, a person who could give you a job. Maybe you asked your friends at school, on your team, or at church about how to get hired at the restaurant or the grocery store. Or your parents asked their friends if they were hiring. Or you may have even walked into a store and talked to the manager because you knew a few people who worked there.
The point is you didn’t need a resumé. I highly doubt you used LinkedIn. And I’m almost certain that you didn’t attend a networking event! You used your connections to find that first job. That simple approach worked for you when you were sixteen, and the truth is: that same approach will work for you today. Creating a web of connections—having purposeful interactions with people who are in the place you want to be—is the first action item you’ll need to do to get you closer to your dream job.
STOP SPEED NETWORKING
I’m all about making valuable connections with people and helping others get to where they want to be in their career, but traditional networking events are not an effective venue for making worthwhile connections. These events are designed to give job seekers the opportunity to meet business professionals in the hopes that you will hit it off and make such a great first impression that it will lead to a job interview. It’s like speed dating for business.
Use the connections you already have to make new ones in the place you’d love to work.
The last time I ever attended a networking event I felt like I’d walked into a meat market. I’d been there for several minutes when a guy came up to me bouncing with so much energy, it was like he was a human version of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. I was honestly kind of taken aback at how aggressively interested he was in talking to me. This guy made me feel like a million bucks—at first. We exchanged hellos and started with the obligatory small talk that’s expected at these events: “What do you do for a living? Where do you work? . . . etc.” And I mean in no less than forty-five seconds he went from full-on stalker mode to completely ignoring me as he scanned over my shoulder for his next victim. As soon as he realized that I was in an industry that was of zero benefit to him, he checked out.
Believe me, your time and energy are too precious to spend at these types of events. In fact, I’m giving you permission to never attend another traditional networking event for the rest of your life! They’re awful. They rarely lead to a genuine connection with the right people to help you land your dream job. Instead, use the connections you already have to make new ones in the place you’d love to work.
EXPAND YOUR CIRCLE
Earlier in the People section I said, It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know! There’s a lot of truth in that statement, but when it comes to connecting to job opportunities, most of the time it’s not just who you know, it’s who they know. Getting that first job as a teenager was quite a bit easier than getting in proximity to your dream job as an adult. Why? Because younger people tend to stick to their inner circle of family and friends to connect them to a job—any job that puts gas in the gas tank. But the reality is, your chances of getting a job that you really want are much higher if you step outside of your inner circle and connect with people you don’t know as well. The people they know. Your outer circle.
Mark Granovetter is a sociology professor at Stanford University. His main focus of study has been the interactions of social networks. In his article “The Strength of Weak Ties,” which was published in The American Journal of Sociology, Granovetter used the term weak ties to describe people who aren’t in your inner circle. His research shows that connecting with these weak ties leads to more opportunity. In fact, he says that people were 58 percent more likely to get a job through weak ties than through strong ones.52 And it makes a lot of sense. If you rely only on the people in your inner circle to connect you to job opportunities, then you’re limited to a pretty small job pool. But if you expand your circle to include weak ties—who they know—the pool gets a whole lot bigger. It’s kind of like playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. I know it’s a crazy analogy, but stick with me for a minute.
Learning from Kevin Bacon
The game is based on the “six degrees of separation” theory—the idea is that any two people in the world can be connected through six or fewer acquaintances. In Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, players challenge each other to find the shortest path between Kevin Bacon and another Hollywood actor. For instance, if you and I were playing the game, I would throw out an actor’s name like Melissa McCarthy. Your job would be to connect Melissa McCarthy to Kevin Bacon. So you might remember that McCarthy was in the movie Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig. You’d then connect Kristen Wiig to Steve Carell because they were in Date Night together. Finally, you would connect Steve Carell to the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love with none other than . . . Kevin Bacon. Bam! Within three movies—three degrees of separation—you arrived at Kevin Bacon. It’s a pretty fun game to pass time on car trips. But how does this game and the theory of six degrees of separation apply to The Proximity Principle? With a method I like to call “Creating a Web of Connections.”
Creating a Web of Connections
Creating a web of connections is the best way to get the opportunities you really want.
When I use the word web, I’m sure the image of a spider web immediately pops into your mind. And that’s exactly what I’m going for here. Spiders are remarkable creatures, and their webs are equally fascinating. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to see a spider web in the morning light, covered in dew, you get what I’m saying. Their webs are intricate and very, very strong.
William K. Purves, a biology professor, explained just how strong dragline silk, a specific type of silk spun by spiders, is in an article he wrote for Scientific American:
Dragline silk combines toughness and strength to an extraordinary degree. A dragline strand is several times stronger than steel, on a weight-for-weight basis, but a spider’s dragline is only about one-tenth the diameter of a human hair. The movie Spider-Man drastically underestimates the strength of silk. Real dragline silk would not need to be nearly as thick as the strands deployed by our web-swinging hero in the movie.53
Okay, so you might be thinking, Thanks for the biology lesson, but how will this get me in proximity to my dream job? Creating your own web of connections using a strong network of people—similar to how a spider spins an incredibly strong web to catch its next meal—is the best way to get the opportunities you really want. This web will be made up of your inner circle of people—your close friends and family—who are then connected to an outer circle of people who can connect you to the work you want to do. So to create a web strong enough to get the results you want, you just need to follow three simple steps. Then you can sit back and watch opportunities find you. You should:
1. Inform Your Inner Circle
2. Create a Connection To-do List
3. Connect with the People on Your List
Let’s go a little deeper on each of these steps.
Inform Your Inner Circle
The process of creating a web of connections starts by sharing your dream with your inner circle of close family and friends. These are the people you care about most and who care about you the most. So tell them exactly what you want to do and where you want to go. Then ask them to think of people they know or places they have access to that they are willing to connect you to. They will start thinking through their own web of
connections to find anyone they know who could possibly help you. The close relationships and acquaintances they have are potential connections to get you to your dream job.
Create a Connection To-do List
Once you have a list of connections from your inner circle, it’s your turn to sit down, think through your own acquaintances, and make a list of those connections. You may want to create “buckets,” or categories, to help you identify all of your contacts based on how you know them. Buckets could include former coworkers, former classmates, people you’ve met at social clubs, and neighbors. Debbie recently called my show and said she hardly knew anybody outside of her family and close friends. I took a shot in the dark and asked, “Do you have kids?” She said, “Three.” I then asked if they played sports. She chuckled as she told me how busy her family is with the kids’ sports schedules. I asked Debbie if she had developed friendships with any of the other moms from her kids’ teams. I could hear the light bulb turn on in her head as she paused and said, “I sure have.” She knew what I was going to ask next. Debbie knew more people than she thought she did. Every one of those moms is an acquaintance and a connection, and the opportunity she is looking for could be sitting on the bleachers with her every week.
Connect with the People on Your List
With a little intentionality and thought, you will have a list with plenty of connections you need to make. Once you’ve reviewed, researched, and prioritized your list of people and places, ask your inner circle or other contacts to connect you to those people in your outer circle. I know this can feel really intimidating, but the truth is that parts of this process are going to feel a little uncomfortable. And that’s okay! Connecting with people you hardly know doesn’t have to happen in an awkward phone call or in a formal meeting in an office. It can be really laid back—over coffee or lunch. The important thing is that it’s an actual conversation. Don’t try to have a conversation through email. Sit with these folks face-to-face. Then just like you did with your inner circle, tell them what your Mount Everest is and ask them if they know of any opportunities or have connections with any relevant people.