Podcast #171 – The Napoleon Hill Success Formula for Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals, Part 2
Julea: Welcome to “The Animal Health Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary recruiter, Stacy Pursell, founder and CEO of The VET Recruiter, provides insight and practical advice for both employers and job seekers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary employers hire top talent, while helping animal health and veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life. Stacy is a workforce/workplace expert.
In today’s podcast episode, we’ll be talking more about the Napoleon Hill success formula for Animal Health and Veterinary professionals. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Julea. As always, I am glad to be here with you to talk about recruiting and hiring in the Animal Health industry and veterinary profession.
Julea: Stacy, the first part of this podcast series was last week. During that episode, we explore two of the most important foundations for success, which are character and hard work. Can you talk again about why you’ve decided to make Napoleon Hill a topic for our podcast?
Stacy: I certainly can. As I said last week, I have always admired the teachings of Napoleon Hill, and I think what he had to say and his advice is timeless. It can apply to all of us including those of us in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. As an Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary recruiter, I have noticed that some of the most successful people I have had the opportunity to work with over the years display theses character traits that Napoleon Hill talks about.
Julea: And for those of you who may not have joined us last week or do not know, Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author, and he’s best known for his book Think and Grow Rich, which is among the 10 best-selling self-help books of all time. He died in 1970, so he is not with us now, but as you said, his advice is timeless.
Stacy: Yes, his advice is timeless, and I would like to explore more of his advice and wisdom today and how it can apply to Animal Health and veterinary professionals.
Julea: Stacy, we used some of the quotes of Napoleon Hill to discuss his advice in our last podcast. Will we be doing the same today?
Stacy: Yes, we will. In fact, we’re going to focus on one quote in particular, and the reason we’re doing that is because it’s filled with multiple nuggets of wisdom, all of which I believe will be a benefit to Animal Health and Veterinary professionals.
Julea: Great! What is that quote Stacy?
Stacy: The quote goes like this:
“The quality and quantity of the service you render, plus the attitude with which you render it, will determine the amount of pay you get and the sort of job you hold.”
I know that sounds like a small quote, but there is actually a lot in there, and I’d like to unpack it all.
Julea: Okay, that sounds good. Where would you like to start?
Stacy: I’d like to start with the practice of going the “extra mile.” We talked about this last week when we discussed hard work, but it definitely bears repeating. This deals with the “The quality and quantity of the service you render” portion of Napoleon Hill’s quote.
Going above and beyond the call of duty and doing so on a consistent basis speaks to something which we’ve discussed before on our podcast, and that’s value. Once again, everything in the employment marketplace revolves around value, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a good economy or a down economy. As referenced in this quote, both the quantity of your work and the quality of your work constitute that value. It is not one or the other. It’s both.
Julea: So basically, you’re talking about doing a lot of work and also doing a lot of work well, not sacrificing one for the other.
Stacy: Right! The more value that you provide to your employer, the more valuable your employer will think you are. There is a direct correlation between the two. And the more valuable your employer thinks you are, the more you will be compensated for that value. And those employees who go the “extra mile” are more likely to be compensated to a greater degree.
If you want a raise, then you should strive to provide more value. If you want a promotion, then you should do the same. If you want both a raise and a promotion, then you should really be focusing on the amount of value that you provide. Those who do barely enough work to get by do not get promoted and they do not get raises or as big of a raise as someone who goes the extra mile.
But value isn’t all about just effort and hard work.
Julea: What else is it about Stacy?
Stacy: This involves “the attitude with which you render it” portion of Napoleon Hill’s quote. Think of it this way: what good does it do to go above and beyond if you’re just going to be grumpy and complain about it while you are working? Your boss and co-workers will remember your complaining and negativity more than they will remember the extra work you did.
Julea: So, you are saying to be cheerful while you are working hard?
Stacy: Exactly! You should be cheerful and have a positive attitude and outlook while doing your work. And yes, it is true that being cheerful and positive is a conscious decision. It’s a choice.
Julea: Aren’t some people just naturally more cheerful than others?
Stacy: That may be true, but it’s still a decision and a choice. And most importantly, being cheerful and being positive also constitute a form of value. Employers not only want to hire people who are more productive and have a high quality of work, but they also want to hire cheerful and positive people who work hard while having a good attitude at the same time.
And according to Napoleon Hill’s quote, a person can influence how successful they are in their career by influencing how much value they provide.
Julea: How’s that?
Stacy: This is the “determine the amount of pay and the sort of job you hold” portion of his quote. This speaks to both the job that a person holds, as well as the amount of money and other compensation that they receive for doing that job. According to Napoleon Hill, you have tremendous influence on both of these, if not control over them.
It’s actually a rather simple formula, if you think about it. If you don’t have the job that you want or you don’t believe that you’re being compensated enough for the work that you do—or both—then you should increase your value by “going the extra mile” and doing so with a cheerful and positive attitude.
Julea: That sounds pretty simple.
Stacy: It does in theory, but not so much in practice. If it was easy to do, then everyone would be doing it, but I know for a fact that is not the case.
The next part of Napoleon Hill’s quote is also something that we’ve discussed before on the podcast.
Julea: What’s that?
Stacy: Persistence and perseverance. There isn’t a specific part of Napoleon’s quote that deals with these items, but it’s an inferred part of his formula for success. That’s because all of the things that we’re discussing here are basically habits, and it takes a certain amount of time for people to form habits, especially if they’re new ones. In fact, the general rule is that it takes 21 days of doing something before it begins to become a habit.
Julea: So in order to form good habits, productive habits, a person has to be persistent?
Stacy: Yes, that’s right! And we discussed two such habits earlier when we talked about “going the extra mile” and being cheerful and positive. Those are habits that require practice. It’s a process. You’re just not going to roll out of bed and start doing twice as much work and being twice as cheerful and positive. The good news is that once you start to see the benefits of these habits, then you’ll continue to do both.
You’ve probably heard of a self-perpetuating cycle of behavior, usually in reference to negative behavior. Well, this is the same concept, only with positive behavior. It’s a cycle of positive behavior, and you want as many cycles of positive behavior in your professional life as possible.
Julea: Stacy, it seems as though that everything we talked about last week and this week deals with value, is that right?
Stacy: Yes, and that just goes to prove how important it is for Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to focus on value. This means assessing what value they’re providing and working to increase that value in as many different ways as they can?
Julea: Stacy, can you share some of those ways with our listening audience?
Stacy: Certainly. One way is to earn certifications related to your field. That’s because earning certifications indicates that you have the drive and the desire to improve yourself. They also indicate that you have acquired certain skills. If there’s one thing that employers value in their employees, it’s the acquisition of more skills.
Another way is to take on more responsibility, and yes, this is a tricky one. Your work-life balance is obviously important to you, so you want to be selective about what additional responsibility you assume. However, if you are always on the lookout for ways to add modicums of responsibility, opportunities will present themselves.
A third way is to be results-oriented. That’s because the bottom line for organizations of all sizes and types is results—achieving them, attaining them, reaching them, however you want to put it. Employees who are known as people who consistently get results are considered to be the most valuable employees.
Julea: Stacy, we’re just about out of time. Is there anything else that you’d like to add before we wrap up today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: Yes, I want to emphasize once again that value is important no matter what kind of economy we’re in or what kind of marketplace it is. It was important when it was a candidate-driven market a few months ago, and it’s important right now in what his definitely not a candidate-driven market.
And this speaks to one of the reasons why I want to discuss the advice and wisdom of Napoleon Hill. Because the basics and the fundamentals of success not only never go out of style, but they’re relevant all the time. They’re just as relevant today as they were in the early 20th century, and they’re just as relevant now as they were last year, when the unemployment rate was below 4%.
The bottom line is that you can never go wrong understanding and practicing the basics and the fundamentals of success, and I believe that right now is an opportune time for Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to be doing just that.
Julea: Stacy, thank you so much for all of this great information and wisdom from Napoleon Hill.
Stacy: It has been my pleasure Julea and I look forward to our next episode of the Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider!
Julea: That’s all for today’s show. For Stacy Pursell and everyone at The VET Recruiter, thank for your listening and we invite you to join us next time when we address more employment issues and career advice in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. We hope that you will join us then! In the meantime if you are an employer needing to hire for a critical position open in your Animal Health company or Veterinary practice reach out to Stacy today and be sure to check out the hot jobs posted on www.thevetrecruiter.com.