When I begin a new employee search with a client, we start with an exercise to create “The Ideal List”. It begins with this question: If you DREAM BIG of the ideal candidate for this position, who would they be and what would they know?
After the list is created, I type it out and send it to the client with instructions to print out the list and post it strategically where they will see and review it regularly. (As Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich, you can’t have what you want unless you know what it is. And you HAVE to write it down!)
Later, when we meet again to continue the process, I ask where they posted their list. Some of the responses I’ve gotten are SO funny! Here are some of the most memorable:
#4: The Coffee Pot: One of my clients drinks quite a lot of coffee throughout the day, and he has his list posted right behind the coffee pot. He told me, “I KNOW that I will see it there several times a day, morning, noon and night, so it just made sense to me. Also, I had to add to the Ideal List that my perfect employee would also like coffee!”
#3: The Washing Machine: Another client posted her list on top of her washing machine. “I have four kids. I do 5 loads of laundry per day, so I am definitely going to stare at that list while folding laundry.”
#2 The Bathroom: Oddly enough, this is the most common place that people post their list! I’ve lost count of the number of clients who post their list here. As one client so aptly put it, “It is where I do my best thinking!” (Talk about multi-tasking!)
#1 The Shower: I have an amazing client who laminated his list and hung it high in his shower. “I solve the world’s problems when I am in the shower. I look up while I am washing/rinsing my hair, and I stare at that list.”
Where would you post your Ideal List? I would love to hear!