BIRMINGHAM — Attention candidates, if you want the job then close the deal.
Landing that great new executive assignment, or winning that big internal promotion, requires an important leadership skill — great communication and the ability to motivate people to action. Sell them. Yes, you have to be a good at sales and close the deal.
Along the way, the candidate should keep repeating — “it is not about me, it is not about me, it is not about me.” The fact is self-centered egomaniacs rarely make truly effective sales representatives. They make even worse executives.
When you shift the focus from getting what you want to meeting the needs of the employer/customer, you will have a better chance of closing the deal.
To get to that point you have to help the hiring authority connect the dots — your experience, your record of accomplishment and their needs. Surprisingly, a significant number of executive candidates are below par in selling themselves. They just rattle off their experience and talk about what they have done versus here is what I have accomplished. They do not say it but they might as well – “Hey employer I shouldn’t have to take you by the hand. I am good, I am successful, figure it out.”
The truth is that in an increasingly competitive executive job market, an executive’s ability to sell themselves could well make the difference between getting the job offer, or that infamous, perfunctory telephone call expressing regrets.