Both success and disaster have built our practical experience, yet we only pitch our success. It's time to embrace the "Dark" side.
In 2007, BusinessWeek did a survey asking business people to rank their performance. The result: 90% believed they were in the 10% of performers. (Seems to makes the saying “there’s no room at the top” a load of hogwash.)
If you read 100 resumes, 100% are in the top 1%. The first rule of resume writing or pitching is to present yourself in the best light. I did, you did, they did, etc.
I met some investors from the San Francisco area, who got me to rethink my “top 1%” approach. In seeking advice on how to improve my investment pitch, they said “We don’t invest in people who have not been part of a failed company. They cannot recognize problems and fix them”.
My first reaction was “If you eat meat from a mad cow, won’t you get mad cow disease as well?”
Then I thought about some my career ’s hard-earned experiences. Many were associated with a disaster of some sort. None were on my resume. Yet all made me a smarter and shaped how I approached business. But how does one go about pitching a disaster?
“Learned valuable lesson by being part of budget with significant cost overruns due to misidentifying client requirements”
Not a very compelling bullet point. More like taking a bullet.
“Reexamined client requirements to bring project costs in line with budget, saving $10 million in development costs”
I find that during my interviews that if I discuss my key lessons and poke a bit of fun at my mistakes, virtually everyone does the same.
Poking fun at your mistakes also shows you are realistic. When it comes to making mistakes: I do, you do, they do, etc. – now we are in the 100%!
Good luck today!
Mark Richards