The Power of Resiliency – Kurt Wilkin

11/10/20 • 25 min

Branch Out - A Podcast from Connection Builders

Part of being in a leadership position is that you cannot take a “woe is me, hide in the closet mentality”; you have to take a “we are going to get through this mentality” or you may ultimately struggle to be successful. The winners in life are not the ones who never get defeated or never fall on their face. It’s how you respond afterward — it’s about resiliency and persistence and bouncing back off of the mat. Today on the show, we welcome Kurt Wilkin, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of HireBetter, your strategic talent partner. During this episode, Kurt and I talk on the topic of resiliency and why it is something we all need to have the right mindset around. We are in a time where we are facing challenges that we have never seen before and Kurt shares some insightful thoughts on how to maintain a resilient mindset. As an entrepreneur, Kurt has experience growing, scaling, and exiting high-growth companies and now devotes his time to helping business leaders unlock their own success. His responsibilities include strategic client consultation, client satisfaction, recruiting, and practice development. His success as an entrepreneur stems from his ability to build long-term relationships with clients, attract a loyal team of dedicated leaders and associates, and consistently deliver on commitments. Kurt is an alumnus of the University of Arkansas, a Certified Public Accountant, and an active member and officer of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He is passionate about entrepreneurship, is an active angel investor, and sits on the boards of several companies and nonprofits. Stay tuned for this interesting conversation with one of our leading experts on today’s episode of Branch Out.
Key Points From This Episode:

Kurt shares his general thoughts on resiliency.
How Kurt maintains his resilient mentality while dealing with challenges: Leadership responsibility.
What Kurt would recommend to someone who was crushed by COVID-19: Survival.
Comfort zone versus growth zone: Growth requires discomfort.
Failure is not an option: What does failure really mean?
Kurt unpacks one of his most inspiring quotes.
The way self-care ties into the concept of resiliency.
Taking time for self-care will influence your productivity and effectiveness.
Kurt shares his number one thing to do in order to remain resilient: Connecting with others.

Kurt Wilkin LinkedIn
HireBetter
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Connection Builders LinkedIn
Have thoughts or comments? We want to hear from you. [email protected]

Kurt shares his general thoughts on resiliency.
How Kurt maintains his resilient mentality while dealing with challenges: Leadership responsibility.
What Kurt would recommend to someone who was crushed by COVID-19: Survival.
Comfort zone versus growth zone: Growth requires discomfort.
Failure is not an option: What does failure really mean?
Kurt unpacks one of his most inspiring quotes.
The way self-care ties into the concept of resiliency.
Taking time for self-care will influence your productivity and effectiveness.
Kurt shares his number one thing to do in order to remain resilient: Connecting with others.

Kurt Wilkin LinkedIn
HireBetter
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Connection Builders LinkedIn
Have thoughts or comments? We want to hear from you. [email protected]

Previous Episode

The Art of Managing Up, Down & Sideways - Michelle Acciavatti

The Art of Managing Up, Down, and Sideways with Michelle AcciavattiIt doesn’t matter where you are in the corporate hierarchy. Nearly all jobs require working with people and managing up, down, or sideways. Today we speak with Willis Towers Watson market leader Michelle Acciavatti about the art of managing. Starting at the entry-level, Michelle gives tips on managing up and impressing the bosses by creating ‘presentation-ready’ work. A recurring theme throughout our conversation, Michelle emphasizes the importance of developing an empathetic viewpoint, thinking one step ahead, and trying to understand other perspectives. Linking to his and on the subject of dealing with unreasonable bosses, Michelle advises that listeners operate the framework that 99.9% of people are rational people. Empathy can help you understand their position. We then dive into managing down and why developing your team can free you up to do more tasks. We talk about the false conception that people need managing, when really, your role is to manage tasks, problems, and deliverables. Another key theme, Michelle discusses why teams need trust and honesty before sharing how you can develop this within your team. Finally, we tackle how to manage sideways, with Michelle highlighting the need to build strong relationships. As you move up, Michelle explains, having a strong team that can give you honest feedback is critical to your success. Tune in to hear more about the art of managing — these lessons will benefit you wherever you are in your career.
Key Points From This Episode:

The three vantage points to consider when managing up.
Generating ‘presentation-ready’ work from an empathetic viewpoint.
How to manage up when your boss seems like an unreasonable person.
Finding common ground and operating from the framework that 99.9% of people are rational.
Common challenges faced when managing down and why no one works for you.
Developing the people below you instead of managing them.
Why trust and honesty are key in developing your team.
How to build trust and honesty within the team that you’re working with.
How not letting the ‘perfect’ get in the way of the ‘good’ can give you time to nurture your connections.
Why building relationships is the most important aspect of your career.
The importance of developing an honest team when you reach upper-management levels.
Seeking out people with different perspectives and skillsets.

Michelle Acciavatti LinkedIn
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Connection Builders LinkedIn
Have thoughts or comments? We want to hear from you. [email protected]

Next Episode

Investing in People - Jeremy Holland

Today’s guest is Jeremy Holland, Managing Partner of Origination at The Riverside Company, and he understands that building relationships is the key to creating long term value. Jeremy joins us today to share the secrets he’s learned from the world of deals about why investing your time in people can help you achieve more than you ever thought possible. Jeremy explains that while hardly anybody is willing to invest their time in something that does not present an immediate benefit, the fact remains that the more you help others, the more they will want to help you later. What’s more, relational encounters are far more fulfilling than transactional ones. Jeremy shares some tips for how to build meaningful relationships with your team, stressing the value of private, candid conversations. Regarding external relationships with his firm’s clients, having a ‘how can I help attitude’ has proven to pay back its weight in gold, long term. We also get into the idea of goodwill impairments today – situations where an angry outburst can destroy trust built up over years; we talk about how to avoid having these, and the idea that if you take bad news professionally today, you might be able to turn it into the good news you were hoping for in future. For all you need to know about building long term value by investing in relationships, tune in.
Key Points From This Episode:

Jeremy’s belief that investing in meaningful relationships is key to creating long-term value.
Private, candid conversations with people as a way of building meaningful relationships.
How much a person would appreciate honest feedback about their behavior.
Using a ‘how can I help?’ attitude to build meaningful relationships outside of your firm.
What it takes to truly invest in a person who can’t immediately help you: A time investment.
The delayed, long-term payback that comes from investing in helping others.
Examples of goodwill impairments and the work it takes to repair those relationships.
How to curb a potential goodwill impairment by taking bad news professionally and scheduling a follow-up.
The idea that you’ll often win the same deal later if you take an initial rejection well.
Discussing James Carse’s idea that the vitality of a garden does not depend on a harvest.
An example of how Jeremy helped an old friend get a job at a top-tier firm.
The immediate rewards in terms of fulfillment that come with helping others.

Riverside Company
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Connection Builders LinkedIn
Have thoughts or comments? We want to hear from you. [email protected]

Branch Out - A Podcast from Connection Builders - The Power of Resiliency – Kurt Wilkin

Transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:01] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Branch Out, a Connection Builder’s podcast. Helping middle-market professionals connect, grow and excel in their careers. Through a series of conversations with leading professionals, we share stories and insights to take your career to the next level. A successful career begins with meaningful connections.

[00:00:22] AD: Hey, everyone. Welcome to Branch Out. I’m your host, Alex Drost. Today’s g