You are your only competition

Every one of us… is a unique mixture of experience & knowledge… and we lessen the importance of what we offer – not only to a potential Employer… but to our profession… when we allow ourselves to become an “applicant.” If you are going to be what you believe you can be, the thought process must be first turned INTERNAL.
I have a great honor every day to be able to speak with some truly outstanding men & women representing the Investigative, Security, Surveillance, Risk Management, and Loss Prevention industry. The #1 response to my question of “What do you think is keeping you from finding the job you want?” is the same. Can you guess what that answer is?
If you have found yourself looking for a job or looking to advance in your career then you already know the answer: Speaking to a decision maker.
With all of the technological advancements since posting job openings in newspapers “help wanted” section – for us, it was the Chicago Tribune – it to actually getting to speak with someone “in charge.” With technological improvements, this has only gotten more difficult.
What you need to realize Mr. or Ms. Job Seeker, the easier it is to “send” your resume, the more resumes an organization received. Yours becomes just another message in the inbox.
Differentiate the approach.

Dress how you want to be addressed

Causal Friday has turned into quite a beast. I get it, Mark over at Facebook dresses in a hoodie & t-shirt, now Joe in marketing looks like he’s unemployed. Sound familiar? How you dress is important.

Maybe I was brought up differently (or on another planet… planet business), but when are we going to take pride in our appearance again? No, not YOU dear reader grumbling that YOU look really good… if you try… this ISN’T directed at you.

This wardrobe pandemic is EXACTLY why companies make people dress in stupid uniforms. Think low waged worker who will soon be replaced by robot automation. I don’t really need you to take my order (I don’t eat that processed crap), but I CAN push a button & wait for the warmed up partial meat product to slide down the shoot into a sack without YOU. 

For the rest of you, making a wage that you’re not embarrassed by… clean yourself up. Show that YOU CARE. Purge that closet of all the outdated crap & go out and get yourself an UPGRADE.

“Dress how you want to be addressed”

That’s right, slacks & button down collared shirts for you gentlemen & work appropriate clothes from somewhere other than Forever 21 for the ladies. Guys, I can’t say it enough…YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Don’t be trendy. Invest in two pairs dress shoes (black & brown) at Johnston & Murphy. You’ll thank me.

Set bigger goals

We need to return to dreaming. The dream of something bigger has been pushed down & the belief in oneself has been lost behind “the necessity to work to survive.” What has that accomplished? Look at it.  Yes, you dear reader. Set bigger goals.

I care less about your color, your sex, your religious beliefs…. I care about what is more than surface level. I care about what YOU can do & who YOU are. So show it.

Is what YOU have inside, the vision for what could be, the concept that keeps popping up, the voice that whispers to you, the frustration that bubbles up when you know there is a better way… getting louder?

Take the first steps. Talk it out. Write it down. Make it a reality. Make it known. WE NEED YOU to be the person you can be. Our society, our culture, our Country… our kids, our elderly, our companies, our EVERYTHING… needs what YOU have to offer.

“You need to set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you have become the person who can.”

MY DREAM – to secure a large private estate, turn it into a state-of-the-art learning Academy in which the industry leaders of today are able to provide mentorship, guidance & training to the future leaders of MY industry, and to make sure that we are able to supply everything (tuition, lodging, equipment & materials), so every socioeconomic student can focus on educational achievement.  

What’s your goal?

When quiet, you can hear

“Security, Loss Prevention & Investigation industry in denial on what’s to come.” Wait, what? I thought the push for going back & getting your “degree” or completing that expensive “certification” was going to help you to achieve career success? Did it?

Almost every person I talked to found it a waste of time & money. Not because they didn’t learn something interesting, they did. The “achievement” FAILED to help them advance… now. No new position, no promotion, no offers of employment…

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

Advertising sells success. They are designed to make us believe that high paying jobs are at the end of that path (that they were suggesting you take…) and to pay them to achieve it. Ah, the proverbial Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow promise, it gets us every time.

It’s just like beer selling us on attractive people & the better life. Look around you folks, that’s not the “norm.” If you consume THIS product (fill in fantasy here) you will (fill something great) will happen. Why? Because it’s proven to work. Studies & focus groups, split A/B testing… your activity, buying habits, browsing histories, music choices (I could go on for paragraphs) are studied, tracked & monitored so you can be SOLD.

If you want to know whats to come: https://meetme.so/ER_SeekerServices

Change

We need to utilize focus towards personal transformation & our own awareness to achieve EXTERNAL change. Change is not just a slogan for some political campaign, it’s much deeper.

The change we need… is found in self-awareness. If we want a society that is truly based on sustainable principles, if we want to remove despair, end poverty, to unify people, empower, evolve, or live in a free & truly fair democratic society, we have to start from WITHIN.

“We will not solve our problems with the same mindset that created them.”

What are the issues that really need to be addressed? What will it take to achieve long-term outcomes? What steps will be necessary to reach our goals? Who are the people that need to be involved? What is prohibiting forward progress? What matters most? What are the first steps?

I coined the phrase “Homeland Security Begins at Home” a decade ago. Home is not just a metaphor for America or our house… while interchangeable, I’m talking about our CENTER. What’s at our core, what’s our belief systems? The voice that tells us the difference between right & wrong, to speak up or keep quiet. The one that acts when action – SHOULD be the path. 

It’s about time that we believe in our own judgment, our ingrained beliefs, our abilities, stop relying on the vocalized thoughts and opinions of others.

Get to work.

We Need To Return to Dreaming

We need to return to dreaming. The dream of something bigger has been pushed down & the belief in oneself has been lost behind “the necessity to work to survive.” What has that accomplished? Look at it.  Yes, you dear reader.

I care less about your color, your sex, your religious beliefs…. I care about what is more than surface level. I care about what YOU can do & who YOU are. So show it.

Is what YOU have inside, the vision for what could be, the concept that keeps popping up, the voice that whispers to you, the frustration that bubbles up when you know there is a better way… getting louder?

Take the first steps. Talk it out. Write it down. Make it a reality. Make it known. WE NEED YOU to be the person you can be. Our society, our culture, our Country… our kids, our elderly, our companies, our EVERYTHING… needs what YOU have to offer.

 

“WE HAVE TO DREAM BIGGER”

 

 

 

MY DREAM – to secure a large private estate, turn it into a state-of-the-art learning Academy in which the industry leaders of today are able to provide mentorship, guidance & training to the future leaders of MY industry, and to make sure that we are able to supply everything (tuition, lodging, equipment & materials), so every socioeconomic student can focus on educational achievement.  

What’s your Dream?

If you want to get involved in building this with me, or personally know someone at the top of his or her field that I should know, please reach out and schedule some time here: https://meetme.so/ChrisBauer

What’s being delivered to our children

In 1969, I was only the beginning of a thought. I did however grow up watching Mr. Rodgers & can even remember some of my favorite episodes & guests. I never thought, neither did my parents, about what’s being delivered to our children through this medium. Television programming, movies, video games & almost all forms of accessible content… is now filled with violence & sexual content. While the content entertains (AKA sells us), I believe it’s also harming us, our children, our families, our communities & our culture long-term.

Watch the May 1st 1969 testimony before the Senate Subcommittee

I don’t consider myself a stodgy old fogie in thinking, actions or demeanor. I do however hold strong beliefs of right & wrong. I believe everyone should be allow to do what they wish, as long as it does not interfere with the rights of another to do the same. It seems to be to much to ask in return.

I follow the principles of Bushido – principles that seem to be in opposition to what currently is being served for mass consumption. Violence, questionable morality, sexual overtones & images, race baiting, “spin” and to much BEING PUSHED on us that has to do with what we used to call an “alternative” lifestyle.

All of this as evident in how our kids act, how “visitors” to our country behave like animals, mass shootings, incarceration numbers, aggression towards Law Enforcement, the drug epidemic & the lies media / politicians cripple us with.

Enough. 

Following a dream

If you love something, have interest in following a dream, can’t get something off your mind, find yourself immersed in learning about it, bring it up in daily conversations or people have told you that you would be “really good at it,” do it.

 

 

Don’t give up your dreams or trade those dreams for a false sense of job security. We NEED you… to BE YOU. Listen to that internal voice. Our industry, our Country, and our Communities need you to reach your fullest potential, to reach for new heights, to develop that idea, to expand that cause, to fight for what you want, to gather your tribe and to not give up, and never give in.

From today forward, take a step in the direction of your desires daily… I double dog dare you.  

If I can be of assistance, you know where to find me.

 

Sincerely,

Christopher R. Bauer

Why your opinion is the most important

Not everyone’s opinion counts. Yes I am talking to you dear reader. NOT because your opinion is worthless… but rather to get your attention refocused & scream – YOUR OPINION should be the most important opinion…. to YOU!

Worthless on occasion, hot air most often, people in today’s society are not the intellects they think they are. The phrase “Opinions are like Assholes, everyone’s got one… and everyone else’s stinks” is a bit harsh, but this is a real look at where we are folks – and there’s no children (by age) here. 

Compared to the Americans of 1776, we have become gossip column addicts, tabloid fanboys, fake news conspiracy junkies, and a sound byte believing culture of sheep. Our News Journalists were once Investigators (of Truth), now they might as well be computer generated Artificial Intelligence. (That’s if you don’t get back to in-depth investigative reporting.

It’s time for a re-boot.

The only way we are going to help others is to first help ourselves. You know the drill, when the oxygen mask falls from the overhead compartment…

You know ALL the details if something if it’s important… no sorry…. INTERESTING to you. Get INTERESTED AGAIN! You do the research, you look at the facts, you considered the options & you gather the evidence.

How we got off the path, our focus on wealth & profits

Let us not forget, yes you in the under 40ish crowd, a career is more than the job you do. No matter what your managers told you or you “learned” in your higher learning institutions, YOU are responsible for more than the numbers on the P& L, the staff’s productivity or how many widgets you sell.  Have you ever asked yourself how we got off that path, and our only focus became personal wealth & increased profits?

The TRUE leaders are the ones that make a lasting impact on others within their circle of influence, through the VALUE they provide during THEIR career. 

America was once the greatest country in the world BECAUSE of our vision, our grit, our determination & the ability of the leaders to turn around & offer a hand to those climbing the ladder with them. As we “industrialized” we got off that path instead searching for wealth & higher profits.

The fact remains, we can do BOTH!

We need to get back to the core that made AMERICA the country EVERYONE wanted to go to. We have to expose those in power who step on the necks of the people that are actually the ones doing the work, representing the companies & protecting the brand. BECOME the financially successful “leaders” we see publicized. 

We can build EMPIRES with an ARMY of highly paid, highly educated, highly qualified and highly competent teams around us… (Psst… it makes the teams highly LOYAL as well).    

Using Reflection for Career Success

Are you where you want to be in your career?  If not, consider reflection for career success.  As a practitioner of multiple forms of Martial Arts, I have found a direct correlation between mind, body & soul.  For many of us within the Investigation, Security, Risk Management, and Loss prevention industry, we focus on the strength of our bodies under the belief that musculature and strength will protect us from physical confrontation.  There is no doubt that in certain circumstances and in certain industry sectors, physical attributes are extremely beneficial.  My ability to quickly, effectively, and efficiently subdue one or more individuals has proven valuable in more instances that I would like to admit, however, I have found over many years of practice and study, the real battle that needs to be fought is within the mind.

Your mind is a weapon, keep it loaded.

The act of meditative reflection has personally led me to many realizations in my life’s journey. One of the most important is the concept that what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.  As I have found out personally, the opposite is also true.  If you focus on the path down, you will never achieve great heights.  So many people have been deflated, disappointed, disheartened, and belittled that reenergizing their career hopes, their life dreams, and getting them to a place where they can achieve real long-term impact is a job all on its own. These are some of the largest hurdles that professionals need to overcome in their journey in order to achieve a positive mindset.

There are parts of our global society that bring our attention to and tell us what we don’t have, what we should have, and then lie about what others do have – intentionally driving discontent and self-doubt. We see glimpses of someone else’s highlight reel and believe those glimpses to be commonplace, when in fact the opposite is true.  If there is any doubt, look deeper than the surface level we have all resigned to being true. We are bombarded every day with images and stories that make us feel inferior, lacking, out of the loop, in the wrong place, and often times afraid. Even if we don’t realize what is happening, our subconscious is collecting this input, like grains of sand, and storing them to be used later when we need to formulate an opinion. The problem is our perceptions are often incorrect and that sand piles up and becomes extremely heavy.

I am here to tell you there is nothing to be afraid of, you can set your goal high while reaching for success and you don’t have to do this alone. Managing thoughts is hard, without a doubt. With the constant ingestion of everyone else’s thoughts and beliefs, it is hard to figure out which are our own and which are the ones that we have been programmed to believe.

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. 

Honestly, we work so hard day-to-day we don’t have the time to really do a deep dive in many areas that would allow us a broader knowledge base on a topic and develop ideas that we should be aware of, individually or as a culture.  If you are not making the time to be aware of things that are helping or hurting your success, you should. There is a whole industry that is paid handsomely to figure out the inner workings of the mind and to take a client’s products and services, and make sure we internalize them and make them our own. Colors, jingles, labels, timings, endorsements, targeted markets, product placements and demographics are all used to influence our minds and tell us what to think, believe, buy, like, hate, talk about, and yes – spend our money on.  The research is not for the faint of heart, but knowing the enemy of the mind is the first step in defeating it. Article #1 Article #2 Article #3 Article#4 Article #5

Our society has changed since we were children and has become more sophisticated. I was a product of what you just read, much like you were.  The result is that we have changed our grasp of concepts and the connection of events people, places, and things.  The biggest change I have observed is in the area of norms, ethics, and standards.  Maybe you share this belief? If you do, SHARE this article with people in your social media network. It is glaringly evident in the interactions we witness, the news we hear, and in the state of affairs in the world in which we live.  So maybe you’re asking yourself what can be done?  Maybe you have been thinking the same thing but haven’t found a way yet to make the change in your own life?  The purpose of this article is not to just inform or to gain notoriety, it is to offer simple solutions that you can implement that I have found that has had an impact not only on me but the professionals I have within my network.

Always listen twice. First to what’s being said, then to who said it. 

Another phrase I coined over a decade ago related to just this topic as it related to the Investigative & Security profession I proudly represent; Homeland Security Begins at Home.  It was used in speeches, events, lunch-and-learns and in conversations with my corporate clients as a way to get people to realize that if they wanted to make the largest long-term impact on the events and situations they are currently facing that they need to take their reach and their scope down to the granular level. Today, as I consult with Job Seekers and business leaders it means the same thing.  Start by analyzing everything within arm’s length and then move in.

Here is how you can accomplish this as a personal goal. I reflect in short meditations and its something that I have added to my life as a daily habit – that has had considerable results.  Here is what I learned from years of trial and error that can help you have the most impact in the shortest amount of time.

Reflection only takes a few minutes and you can do it a few times a day and almost anywhere. I like to do it early in the morning before anyone else is awake and before I need to start making breakfast, lunches, and getting everyone else up and ready to start their day.

Find a comfortable spot where you can sit in a good postured position. Start with focusing on your posture and getting your body in line with what your body is telling you is the best position.  You want to be comfortable but not so much where you can slouch or start to go into sleep mode. When the weather is nice wherever I am, I choose to do this outside.

Next, simply monitor your breath. As you become more aware, try to make it longer, slower and deeper. As you focus here for a while, your mind will start to settle and eventually wander into something other than your posture or where you are sitting.  If you find internal dialog going into a self-defeating state or it starts telling you that you are foolish, this is a waste of time, or signaling you that you have something else to do… you are doing it right.

Understand that your mind wants constant stimulation. Intelligent people often have the hardest time with this initial stage. That is what you want.  Your brain is always active, you just learn to monitor it and then focus it on what you desire that it works on. The thing to remember is that you have the power to remain in control and to change the direction of your thought. Focus on the sounds you are hearing all around you.  Traffic, birds, or the wind.  Just listen.  Don’t act, react, judge or wander.

The next stage is what I call input. Here you are going to take a wide-angle look and drill that down to the one or two things that you would like to focus on.  Internally, you know what these things are and where you are in that process.  Once you have done this for a few days or even a week, you can then go into your meditational / reflection exercises with a few key goals.

When you have successfully reflected for 3-4 minutes at a time, and you are confident that you can control the inner chatter, now is the time to use a timer that will alert you that the predetermined of time has expired.  Start with 7 minutes. 

As an example, if you are having a difficulty at work or overcoming an obstacle, bring your attention to that. Think about it from multiple perspectives.  Who is involved, what are the timelines or deadlines, and what is the worst case and best case scenarios?  From there you can better focus on the part you play and how you are involved.  Maybe you find that you need more involvement, maybe it is clear that you need less.  Who can assist you in achieving your goal?  What part do they play? How can you incentivize them to achieve the excellence you need to make a change?  This could be anything, so this is just a cursory overview.

Be addicted to never-ending self-improvement until it becomes mastery.

Bring this training into your life and use it for anything that requires procedural steps, long-term goals or for issues that you have not been able to determine the best path forward for; health, family, success, finances or happiness.  It is also extremely valuable to use it after an event, good or bad, to see in what ways you could have been more effective. I use it when I get back into the car after a meeting or at my desk when I just finished with interviewing a candidate. I also take Job Seekers through a similar guided process after Job Interviews so they are always learning and gaining intelligence from each interaction.  I have found that this simple trick makes them more comfortable and confident with each interaction and interview moving forward.

Please consider sharing this article if you know someone that might benefit from this brief introduction to meditation and reflection. When I coined the phrase Putting Intelligence In Employment starting EyeRecruit, my vision was to start a business that does more than help people find jobs.  That’s also why we are not just a job board or an algorithm that sends Job openings electronically. The goal is to facilitate interactions between quality Job Seekers and Employers who understand the value of having a quality team focused on satisfying their client’s needs.  Often we help people first find themselves and then realign their goals with their career goals.

If I or the services we offer would benefit you, please feel free to reach out. I would enjoy hearing your career-related story and how this article has assisted you.

 

 

Don’t look back

Every week, I speak to someone in our industry about career management who talks about their past in a negative context. I shut them up right away with the question “What did you learn?”  The answer should be what they should have done.  No excuses, no complaining and no placing of blame so should a part of the response.  It’s not an error, a career negative “mark” or something holding you back from achieving your goals.

Don’t look back – you’re not going that way. 

Survey what happened right after your internal voice let’s you know something wasn’t right and address it then an there.  Listen to yourself.  2018 – stop the negative self talk.  Determine what would have been the best thing to have done and tell yourself “now you know.”  Learn everyday.  Don’t internalize it. Don’t use negative speech internally. Your career is based on experience.  Experience is both good and not so good.  The goal is to make it more good everyday.

Some of the very best Investigators & Security Specialists I have even met freely admit that they made mistakes, screwed up, could have handled something better or wished they had made a better decision previously in their life / career.  As I got to know them better… those were the EXACT times that their career started to launch into amazing heights!

What I look for – and what all the Hiring Managers | CEO’s | Board of Directors in my network look for – isn’t just the problems you had, but how you handled yourself, what you learned from the experience and how all the experiences have brought you to this exact point in your career.  From there we look for cultural fit and your ability to achieve success within the position you are being considered for.  Is looking back more than reflection?