I have a super random hobby. I love reading job postings. It’s one of those random addictions that started in 2020 when I landed in a full-time recruiting roll and started studying what other organizations were doing to attract candidates online.
Most job postings are awful for two reasons. First, most simply regurgitate already poorly written job descriptions that, if written properly, are truly HR legal documents designed to mitigate lawsuits in the chance of involuntary employee termination. BORING! Which in turn leads to a lack of explaining what makes an organization different, why someone should consider joining a team, and the impact their position will have within the organization.
But I digress!
Every now and then, I land upon something in a job description that makes me say, “Wow! This company gets it … or at least their copywriter/marketing team gets it!”
This morning, I landed on a job posting with the following words:
“NO SILOS, EGOS, OR TURF WARS
We refuse to let pride ruin our opportunities for success. We collaborate to bring harmony, humility, and unity because we are better together.”
Whether it’s great rhetoric or they have truly mastered the art of building great teams, I loved it!
As I pondered the words from the hidden gem, I couldn’t help but see the difference it would make if every meeting we had in life started with all of the participants stating those words as an oath. The oath would then need to be coupled with a leader willing to call out and not accept silos, egos, and turf wars. For some teams, this could be some of the toughest growing pains to go through. But man, if accomplished, it’s easy to see how the organization could go from good to great.
Earlier this week my husband (who is about to start month three of his job search since being laid off unexpectedly) and I were having a conversation related to this topic, so the words this morning in a job posting were refreshing.
I told him, “Over the last six years, the thing I have found to be the biggest detriment to success in anything is the lack of teamwork. Can you imagine how much better everything in this world would be if we all weren’t looking out for ‘number one’?”
The conversation started as I drove past a company I used to regularly manage PR conversations with. Each time a meeting with their organization started, their only goal was to make our organization look bad or to get praise for how great they were. They weren’t looking for collaboration. They were looking for the right to be heard, the right to be understood, and the right to only have it their way.
I wish I could say they were the only organization I worked with like that. But to be honest, the “oath” applies across the board to all relationships. How different would your relationship with your kids, spouse, colleagues, or friends be if everyone believed those words?
Since I always like to tie everything back to scripture, here are a few pieces to ponder:
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 15:5-6
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10
