Always Exceed Expectations

Welcome to Headhunter Secrets, where I’ll share perspectives about the search business. We hope you’ll use our services to execute searches. Nonetheless, I wanted to give you some insights I’ve gained from doing search work since I was 23 years old.

Headhunter’s Secrets:
Always Exceed Expectations

A number of years ago, I identified five ways one can get rich:

We can be born with money.
We can marry into money.
We can steal money.
We can be at the right place at the right time to make money.

The thing about these paths to wealth? Easy come, easy go.

This doesn’t mean those who get wealthy one of these ways will end up in the ditch. It just means that which is easy to obtain may be easy to lose. These paths come with built-in risk.

The good news for the rest of us who don’t find ourselves on one of those paths to wealth, there’s a fifth way to create wealth.

Pick something and just start. Start somewhere and strive to improve every day. Costco’s current CEO started his career on the warehouse floor as a forklift driver. A Hollywood CEO started out in the mailroom.

At the end of the day, the profession you choose doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you commit every day to be better than you were yesterday. Do that for 40 or so years, and you will be rich. And what you accumulate over the course of those years will not easily slip through your fingers.

Of course, rich can be subjective. Some people don’t consider themselves rich until they’ve become billionaires. Others have “enough” millions. But there are many people who feel rich, who may be rich, because they can pay their bills, have a savings cushion, and can spend quality time with their family and friends.

This 40-year effort of doing better today than we did yesterday can be summed up in three words:  

Always exceed expectations.

Following these three words daily will help you succeed. It might not rain down billions or millions. But it will provide you with enough. It will provide the wealth of financial stability and the luxury of time with friends and family. It will also provide you respect and admirers. After all, always exceeding expectations sets an example and inspires others to follow suit. 

Always exceed expectations. A rich and fulfilled life will follow.

Hope these insights are helpful. 

We at Leyendecker have been doing search work for 40 years. We’ve completed over 100 C-level searches, most for CFOs. Most have been for PE portfolio companies, but we’ve also helped owner/managed and publicly-held companies. Our placements have helped their employers go through almost 50 successful liquidity events.  

Keep us in mind when you seek talent that will get you over the goal line! Hope you have a great year!

Doug