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The World Series ended in spectacular fashion with a Game 7 between two teams representing franchises with lengthy absences from being World Champions. A game that started with the Cubs up early and tied with a home run against Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman, a game delayed by rain and won in extra innings made for a thrilling and heartbreaking night for the two teams and two cities.
I want to focus on two different lessons from the game and how they relate to job search and business, in general.
After the game, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester was asked about “the curse” the Cubs lived under for 108 years until their win.
“Curses are synonymous with excuses,” Lester said.
So many job hunters and business owners are quick to blame others for their failings. They blame employers for their resume falling into “the black hole” when they have done nothing beyond flipping their resume over the transom of an applicant tracking system that makes no case for their candidacy.
Their LinkedIn profile has errors and is not congruent with their resume. They never think to SEO optimize their resume or LinkedIn profile. The next time they practice how to answer interview questions will be the first time. They conveniently blame discrimination when poor preparation or performance is the real issue (yes, there is discrimination; yet people from every group that is discriminated against are being hired).
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Blame for failure has to start with oneself.
The second point is an amusing one given the fact that the Cubs apparently listened to music from the movie “Rocky” after falling into a 3-1 hole in the series.
Rocky IV has the usual training scenes with Sylvester Stallone going through his training regimen “old school” by running through the snow, chopping wood in the cold and snow, lifting a horse carriage with his brother-in-law and trainer in it. In the meantime, Dolph Lundgren trains in the modern way in a steel and chrome environment with exercises that mirror Stallone’s.
As both athletes are pushed harder and harder and harder to run a steeper and steeper incline, Stallone running up a mountain and Lundgren having the steepness and speed of treadmill increased to faster and steeper conditions, eventually Lundgren “breaks” while Stallone climbs to the top of the mountain.
There can be infinitesimal differences between winning and losing.
In the World Series, the Cubs came up on top. There were moments in the lives and in the seasons of these men where they learned how to win and not blame curses or give themselves excuses.
On this night, they won.
Winners find the way to win.
Losers usually blame others for their failures.
The difference between being a winner and a loser can be tiny.
One of the ways that winners find the way to win is that they know that losers will find the way to lose.
On this night in November, this was not a night about finding a way to lose. The Cubs found the way to win.
Over time, playing the game will teach you how to win.
Learn how to play.
© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2016
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Do you think employers are trying to help you?
You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.
The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.
JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.