I Didn’t Get The Job

Jeff — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:24:05 +0000

Those are some tough words to have to say at a minimum but they can also bring many more feelings than can be much worse than “tough”. Many of you know that I am searching for the next chapter in my career. Recently, I was contacted by some folks that I had met with in the past and there seemed to be a sense of excitement from both sides. The position was, ideal for me in my view. There were “buy” signals from all of us. The position would be challenging which was exciting, but what really intrigued me most about this role was the team that I would have been working with. These were seasoned guys that I could not help but respect. Like any potential new role there are challenges in front of you in just getting the offer. For me and my family, this role would have required a move far from our home in Nashville. That was going to be all right if it came to that and my wife and I had discussed it and felt that if this was where we were led, we would follow. So what happened?

I remember getting the call from the CEO. I like this guy and at this point I am just hopeful to have the opportunity to work under him. I basically am told that he and his team really like me and would love to have me on their team. I knew however, not by any inflection in his tone, that this was not ging to happen. He relayed to me that he felt that he needed someone with more “in the trenches” ops experience and he had come to the conclusion that I just have not had that experience yet and that he could not afford, for both our sakes, to bring me on for this specific role given his reservations. What to do, what to do? You have just been told that you are not the right fit and every fiber of your being may be telling you to fight. I am a fighter and as a matter of fact, I tend to go into a fight with my tail wagging. So why did I not try to convince him that his assessment of me was wrong? Simple, it wasn’t.

I don’t mean that I agree that I am not capable of excelling in the role that we had discussed, but he knew what he was looking for and I do not fit that view. Only he knows for sure what that fit looks like. Something told him that I was not that fit. In my younger days I would have countered and worked to convince him that I was a fit and that I would be a better fit than anyone else. But as I have grown through the years and accumulated experiences in my career I have learned some things. I have had to have this same conversation with many folks telling them that they were not the right fit. Once or twice I probably allowed myself to be convinced otherwise with the result being that ultimately my gut was right. So, instead of countering his objection, I just asked for some insight as to how he concluded that I was not a fit. I assured him that it was not my intention to change his mind; this was simply for my personal development. One of the things that I like about this guy is that he is to the point. He explained his position without trying to soft pedal or tell me how great I was. You know the “It’s not you, it me” routine. He gave me very constructive feedback that I am better for having heard. Ultimately, he wants to stay in touch and see if something else opens up for us to work together at a later date. I would welcome that opportunity.

Listen, I write this blog today to say that we must be very careful in our career search not to fit a square peg into a round hole. We can often be persuasive enough to convince others that they are wrong. Sometimes, it may work out perfectly but I would wager more often than not, it ends with disappointment. You may be 100% right that you can do the job, and maybe you can, but remember, you perception of what is needed to be successful may be entirely different than what they view as success. Sometimes you are doing yourself a favor by listening and learning as opposed to fighting for what you think is best. I have been there and done that and it has not always worked out for the best. If God wanted me in the role at this time, I would be signing the paperwork right now. I trust in Him that he knows what is best for me and that company. I wish them the very best and if the opportunity to work with them at a later date arises I would not hesitate to consider working with such an exceptional team of guys. It goes back the old saying; “be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.”

My Calling Card

Jeff — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:58:13 +0000

Just a quick note of thanks to a very dear friend, Deb Miller. I called her on short notice and asked for a little business card idea and she, as always, exceeded my imagination and put this together for me. You are a dear friend and have a special place in my heart Deb. Thank you!

On a Weekly Basis (Yeah, Right)

Jeff — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:45:57 +0000

So, just over a year ago I embarked on this blog. What excitement and expectations I had. I just re-read my About page and saw where I boldly spoke about what I was going to write about on a weekly basis. I remember thinking that a weekly post would not be tough at all. I could just sit down and in five short minutes I would be able to write a piece worthy of dozens of new followers by the hour. Well, like many recent events in my life, the blog was a humbling experience. I have a whole other blog post that I could write with the excuses and very good reasons why I never wrote my weekly posts. I mean, the fact is, I really wrote ONE post (the introduction doesn’t count) and that was about a month after I decided to shoot for one a week. Yet, for all of the excuses and exceptional reasons that I could tell you about, it comes down to execution on strategy.

In my head alone, I had a strategy for this blog. I thought about a bunch of topics that I would write about and how it easy it would be. I even thought about taking 30 minutes one day and just churning out a dozen or so to have in reserve . The truth was I really did not develop a true strategy. To show what I mean, let me tell you about my most recent undertaking. As some of you may know, I resigned from a very nice job a couple of months ago. After taking some time to reconnect with God and my family, I embarked on the search for my next endeavor. I used that mental strategy thing that I used for the blog. In hindsight, shouldn’t some warning bells gone off? Anyway, my first week I had five meetings and I thought I was on a roll! I recall meeting with a good friend on that first Friday and he exhorted me to be doing four meetings a day. Me, I am thinking I just had five meetings and that might have been everyone that I knew.

LB has a way of firing me up so I went straight home on this Friday morning and started drafting a real strategy on paper on how I was going to go about my career search. I made a list of key tasks, sub-tasks, dates, goals, etc. That very next week I had almost 15 face-to-face meetings and about 10 more phone calls. That is a strategy and execution. I learned some things that first week that I needed to change to make the process more manageable because let me tell you, 15-20 meetings a week is a lot of work. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining because I have had the pleasure of meeting with a lot of friends and making some new ones. I have been blessed to spend time with so many folks that have been more helpful to me than I can express to them in words. That time will come.

So, I am currently in Las Vegas at the Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA) Annual Conference. I had a great first day yesterday and am looking forward to the rest of the conference. All of this to say, that I now have a real strategy for this blog and a plan for execution. I will have a post of substance each week. I may pop in from time to time to update you on what is going today but those will be short and to the point (see me on LinkedIn and Twitter for the daily stuff). I am looking forward to this again but with a little more time on my hands (truly very little more time) I am going to have some fun with this. Check in next week.

An Average Guy’s Search for What’s Important

Jeff — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:24:14 +0000

My first foray into this will be about my daily search for the balance between life and work. I could go and quote a ton of books that I have read and mention some presentations that I have seen but when it get’s right down to it, to me, it is a personal journey and one of the most important. I am a COO for EnableComp, Inc. out of Franklin, TN. More importanly, I am a husband to Lauralea and a father to Cawthon. Balancing these responsibilities has been a challenge and the truth is, I have failed miserably at times. Fortunately for me I have a forgiving wife and son.

: Is this your scale?

So, what did I do? As much as I would love to give some juicy drama about all of this, that would miss the point. The point is, many of us have very demanding jobs. Lauralea does and I do. It is our responsibility as husband and wife and as parents to make certain that we are the gatekeepers to our Balance of Life. The fact is, if you do not control this balance you will find out one day that the scale is so tilted to one side that you won’t even remember when it was balanced. I write this in hopes that you and I both will not have to fight the uphill battle to get that scale balanced again. Some never do and I promise you, getting it back to level will be a lot harder and take a lot longer than it did to get tilted.

My wife and I have set some very strict rules on our personal lives. I mean both of us in the truest sense. As I said, we both have demanding careers so we both have to keep one another honest and it is our love for one another and our son that enables us to be disciplined. When we get home, work stays outside the door. That does not mean that we do not share what happened today or seek one another’s advice on matters that we are dealing with; it just means that we have our email alerts set to silent and we do not engage in work activities when we get home. This is time for our family to be together. The fact is, at least for us, there is nothing work related that is going to happen that is so critical that it requires us to respond before tomorrow morning. If it is that urgent, I expect someone will call my phone and not send an email. I can tell you that since we agreed to commit to the balance we are much happier than when we were tilted on the scale. I would even venture a guess that Cawthon is a lot happier.

How did we make the decision? We decided what the most important things are in our lives. I will write some more on this in the future but the message that I hope to get across here is that no matter how important we think that we are and that our organizations will crumble without us there is still a Balance of Life to be had and the only thing stopping you from finding it is you. Don’t blame your company, your boss, or your colleagues. You have to set your priorities in your life and be disciplined. Most importantly, make the decision that you will not allow the scale to become unbalanced again.

God Bless.

Introduction to A Degree of Perspective

Jeff — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:06:25 +0000

Jeff Tanner

Welcome. This is an introduction to my blog. I will be writing about a variety of things, such as healthcare (my profession), leadership lessons that I have learned, but my vision for this blog is that it focuses on the balance of life. I am no guru and frankly this will be a scenario where I hope to learn from my own advice. Do you ever find yourself giving advice to a loved one or a friend and thinking; “Wow, that is really good advice.” and simultaneously thinking; “I should do that as well.”? I certainly do.

I have made many mistakes along my journey and the only thing that has soothed the sting of them is that I truly feel that I have learned from them. I hope to share some of these experiences and thoughts and who knows, maybe you will find something in here that will help you sidestep an unseen pitfall in your path.

A couple of notes. I am a Christian and while I openly admit that I have not always maintained my compass with spiritual guidance I can say that it is the only magnetic North of my compass today. So, you will see references to that guidance throughout as well as a number of other experiences that I have had. You will not find exquisite writing within. I write like I speak, fairly plain and simple. Frankly, I hope that my blog comes across as a conversation that you might have with a loved one, friend or trusted colleague. Finally a word on some names that you will hear often; Lauralea is my wife and my best friend. She is also the mother of our 3 year old son, Cawthon. They are such an integral part of who I am that I will be speaking about them in my life experiences quite often. That’s about it. I hope that you enjoy this blog and I welcome any insight that you might have for me.

Regards,

Jeff