Fit
Hi! I’m Molly. I write about what it actually takes to lead inside growing, changing companies: the frameworks that help, the honest truth about what it feels like, and the messy work of shaping a career that actually fits.
Lessons is where those ideas live — both the writing and the conversations around it. (If you want to learn more about how Lessons and the community work, you can read more here.)
In December, my friend Don Faul came and talked at our first in-person event for the Glue Club (side note: it was so fun!) If you don't know who Don is, let me just tell you that everyone in the world who knows Don wants to work for him. He's widely regarded among the people who know him as one of the best managers in the world. And every time you talk to Don, or hear him talk, it makes you want to spend more time with him. Don is currently the CEO of CrossFit but he's been the CEO and head of operations at multiple companies before that. I met Don when we were both at Facebook and he was running operations (think: user support, developer support, advertiser support, etc, for millions or billions). At Facebook, he was universally recognized as (again) one of the company's best managers (if not the best).
Anyway, now you know that you should try to go work for Don Faul. But this post is because he said something during his talk that I’ve been thinking a lot about. It's something I believe but, as is always true of me and Don, he said it much more elegantly than I ever could. We were talking about why some roles don't work out — why people get fired or quit quickly or whatever — and Don said, “At some point in your career — when you know what you're exceptional at — if things don't work out, it's not about you, it's about fit.”
[I have to admit, I'm writing this post for those of you that are mid-career, self-aware, and have been successful in your previous roles. If you have a pattern of being fired or making enemies in your roles or whatever, then maybe it's not about fit. I'm writing this for those of you who got fired for the first time when you were in a C-level role. Or who just took a job and have a sinking feeling that you made a mistake but are scared of what other people will think.]
It's not about you, it's about fit.
I recently wrote about this a bit in my post about Joy: the idea that finding a role has two sides to the equation — the jobs you want and the jobs that want you. Fit is about where (and whether) those two sides meet.
Often when we’re searching for a job or being recruited for a job, we’re too focused on the company side — Do they want me? Can I pretzel myself into the space they’ve created for this role?
But the most important questions are where the two sides come together, particularly as you get more senior. Here are three questions I often ask when I or one of my friends are considering a role:
1) Are they hiring YOU?
2) Is what they want what you are great at?
3) Does what they need match up with what you want to do?
All of these questions are about looking for where the two sides meet. Do they really understand what you are spectacular at — your unique, extraordinary strengths — and are those strengths aligned with what their business and their company need? Do they show awareness of that overlap?
I’ve always been amazed at how long I can talk to a company and how much they can NOT KNOW about me. Often, companies talk entirely about what they need and not about YOU. They leave it up to you to figure out whether you’re a fit for what they need. It’s terrible recruiting, and it honestly drives me crazy.
The best executive recruiting in the world starts with you — what you are great at and what you want — and maps that to what the company is looking for.
I sometimes get asked about my interview style or questions. I started crafting an interview style at Facebook that was based on the strengths-based philosophy — trying to figure out what people were great at and how it mapped to what we needed. Over time, it has evolved into what I would call a motivation interview. What I look for, truly, is the intersection in the two sides of the equation: does what we NEED match what this person WANTS to do? As I said, most companies and most interviews focus more on the question: can this person do what we need? But if you’re trying to recruit the best talent in the world, it needs to start with them. Who are they? What do they love doing? What are their ambitions? How does their past shape what they want for their future? What are they insecure about? What do they want to prove? My interview style is really about mapping that. [Side note: I have multiple very good friends that I have met by interviewing them. My style is about deeply understanding the person and getting to know them and then deciding if they are a fit for us. Often, even if it’s not a fit, we end up as friends because of the conversation we have :)]
Once I understand who they are and what motivates them, my job is to overlay that with our needs as a company — how does what they want match up to what we think we need?
Two other exercises that I encourage my friends and Glue People to do when they’re considering a job also help get at the question of fit.
