Fundamentals are alive and well

I’m the CEO and founder of IT Motives. We’re a technical recruiting company based in Portland, Oregon and this July we are going to celebrate our 15-year anniversary. What are the keys to our success over the past 15 years? I’m a big believer in fundamentals.

Back in the day when I used to play sports, I always tried to learn the fundamentals. For example, when I started playing the game of basketball, I learned how to throw a good chest pass. To dribble with my off-hand. To keep my eyes down the floor. To shoot a consistent free throw. For me, I always come back to fundamentals as I realized at an early age how some of the simple things really do add up. Fundamentals can help in having mastery with a sport, in business, or the game of life.

I’ve been in the business world for well over 25 years and I’ve seen companies, people, and trends come and go. It seems as though the world we live in is constantly in transition. However, I would say that there are some fundamentals that lead a person to success that have not changed much since before I joined the workforce, and I would dare say will remain well after.

What are some of these fundamentals?

In my world which is effectively sales (technical recruiting), here are a few things you can do to ground yourself in fundamentals:

a.     Prep for all meetings

b.     Show up early to meetings

c.     Learn the person’s story

d.     Take good notes

e.     Follow up with that person after the meeting

Don’t try to overcomplicate it. Just keep it simple.

Additionally, here are some things you can do on a daily basis to get your day started with success in mind:  

1.      Wake up at the same time every morning. Routines are great

2.      Spend a few minutes saying what you are grateful for

3.      Come to the day saying to yourself that today will be a great day

4.      Have the mindset to build long-term relationships

Other qualities you could put into the “path to success” category are grit, perseverance, and sticktoitiveness. If you don’t feel like you have these kinds of qualities, can you acquire them over time? Yes, you can. How do you do it? Simple. Do not give up. Hang in there when the going gets tough. Find a way to succeed. My late grandma had a quote I still use to this day, “When you think you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” When things don’t go your way, keep after it and don’t quit.

You might have had the expectation that I was going to give you some really profound silver bullets of wisdom for how to find success. For me, it’s about learning and reverting back to fundamentals. They continue to serve me after all these years, and I don’t plan on deviating from them anytime soon.