Simply Driven Blog

Andrew Krop is having fun. He’s a key executive at Spot Freight, which is an Indianapolis success story. Only in existence since 2009, they are a perennial honoree as one of the IBJ’s Fast 25. We’re having breakfast at Patachou downtown, surrounded by GenCon attendees in full dress. KB: How was life growing up? AK: [...]

Earlier this year I partnered with a key client to recruit a very high-performing individual.  It was a fun process, complete with a few twists and turns and some fairly intense negotiations.  Recruiting top performers is a challenge in any employment market; however, in 2018, the competition is brutal.  Companies know how hard it is [...]

Holidays are an interesting phenomenon in American business.  They’re also an interesting study in human behavior.  This year, the 4th of July obviously falls on a Wednesday.  When I became aware of that a few weeks ago, I warned my Team, “Most people will use this as an excuse to destroy an entire week of [...]

I recently watched a video clip of Ray Allen talking about “The Last Shot”. Ray is an NBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist who is destined for the Basketball Hall of Fame. He’s famous for his ability to hit jump shots under pressure in game-winning situations. A couple of his comments stood to out me. [...]

KB: Melanie, great to see you. MK: Traffic was terrible… KB: It’s all good. I’ve got lots of time. Tell me about you…where are you from, how’d you grow up…all that stuff. MK: Well, here’s a little-known fact: I spent my early years in Hicksville, Ohio, which is just across the Ohio state line from [...]

My family and I went to a local restaurant on Father’s Day. It’s a place I really like that has great food. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good experience. Our server greeted us cheerfully and took our drink orders. She delivered the drinks, sans straws, but assured us she’d be right back. She wasn’t. When she [...]

I’ve been working on a sales role for one of my best clients.  Although finance/accounting is my specialty, it’s fun when a loyal client asks me to step into another area for a one-off search.  It’s an opportunity for me to stay sharp and engage with different personality types. Salespeople are interesting – I have [...]

Last week, I had the privilege of being stuck in an elevator with several other people. It was a fascinating study in human behavior. Going up, we stopped on Floor Three, and a few more folks got on. Then something odd happened. As the doors closed, we started falling. There was screeching and grinding. In [...]

Every day I’m told several times how busy someone is. I’ve gone through an evolution in how I choose to receive that information. First, I was empathetic. I’d take a moment to sincerely acknowledge the person’s current state. After a while, I adopted the eye-roll, listening and then moving on. Next, I allowed this seemingly [...]

There have always been people who want something for nothing. But there are many more of them now. Technology has made important things free. Take knowledge, for example. My nephew flips diesel pickups as a hobby. He researches dozens of pickups online in search of one that has problems – sometimes significant problems. Occasionally the [...]

Technology continues to make tasks easier and faster to execute.  Until the mid-19th Century, if you needed to communicate with someone, you had to either write a letter or be face-to-face.  Now all you have to do is press a button. Yet…although the methods have changed dramatically, and things have never been easier or faster, [...]

KB: Joe, it’s great to see you. JA: Thanks. KB: You’ve had a non-traditional journey to the CFO seat. Let’s talk about that. JA: You’re right. I attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, which is in New London, CT. I pursued the Coast Guard Academy due to a couple of other family members that had [...]

We live in a culture of immediate gratification.  We’ve been trained to expect everything now.  And  when I say “now”, I mean NOW.  Success and career are no exception.  Blame (in large part) the technology industry.  From a historical perspective, the emergence of technology giants Facebook, Amazon and SpaceX happened fast.  Careers were made, and [...]

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” has historically been a popular interview question.  Perhaps at one time, it was considered clever and forward-thinking.  Now it’s just tired, overused and perhaps irrelevant.  Does anybody really know what they’re going to be doing in five years?  Employees don’t work for organizations for extended lengths of [...]

Brad Cornelius is part of something special, and he knows it. Sun King has developed a brand and a culture that most other companies can only dream about. KB: Brad, thanks for meeting me. BC: My pleasure. KB: So, tell me about growing up. BC: I’m an only child; grew up in Lawrenceburg, IN. My [...]

One of the best things you can do to advance your career is to adopt this mindset that you’re always interviewing.  Conventional wisdom says that we interview in order to get a job, and then we’re done...until, for some reason, we’re looking again for a job.  But the most successful people don’t think that way.  [...]

RIP work/life balance.  You had a great run.  You were a great phrase, a catchy phrase, and a convicting phrase.  You caused people to check themselves and you put employers and corporations on their heels.  Many still call on you, but you’re not where the action is anymore. Work/life balance is dead.  Work/life alignment lives. [...]

I was recently in Costa Rica with many of my friends from the recruiting industry.  One evening over cocktails, my friend and colleague Scott Samuels told me what is now one of my favorite recruiting stories. Scott owns Horizon Hospitality, based in Kansas City with offices in West Palm Beach and Scottsdale.  He was contacted [...]

Learning how to synthesize information and make good decisions is very important in life.  My assessment is that not many people these days do it well.  Consider my latest example...we’ll call this person Anthony. Anthony completed a three-step interview process with my client.  After each step, he communicated his interest and desire to move to [...]

I recently worked with a candidate who had received simultaneous job offers.  His assessment was that both were equally good options.  When I asked him to differentiate the two, he immediately focused on salary, as it was an obvious, quantifiable difference.  (One offer was five thousand dollars more than the other.)  I pressed him for [...]