The executive search business is interesting. I have heard people call executive recruiters everything from a bunch of motivated misfits to crafty extroverted intellectuals. It’s often a cyclical business much like consumer goods mixed in with the emotional highs and lows of the tech boom in 2000 which can greatly affect the office environment.
We often have the highest of highs and lowest of the lows. Highs where you think the party is never going to end and lows where you question why you got out of bed in the morning. It is never boring; our sector deals with nothing but humans on both sides of the coin all day, every day, nights and weekends (and I am not talking about your Verizon plan). Some people are rational, some irrational, but either way, candidate or client, people surprise you in every way possible.
With the eclectic mix of people in our business who are often aggressively fueled by quad lattes, combined with all of the ups and downs we face, there is one thing I have grown to love about our company: Regardless of the day, I can hear laughter throughout the office as I just did at 11:40am EST on December the 11th, 2014.
The laughter and excitement wasn’t the signing of a new client, it wasn’t the placement of a VP of Manufacturing for a Fortune 500 nor was it the announcement of what is for lunch. It was simply the laughter of a team enjoying their jobs, their colleagues, and the culture that we have created.
The day you walk into your office and cannot smile and laugh as you do your job and grow both professionally and personally is the day you should start to change the environment around you. I think we all agree that those engaged with their environment and teams will produce greater results.
The next time you hear a silent office ask yourself: How many people walked in this morning excited to be here?
Then ask yourself what can I do to change it?
Make someone laugh in your office today, you will find it to be contagious.