So You Think You Can't Go To College? How about "One Semester Try"

Involved or Committed to your future?
Are you a chicken or a pig?

Answer: The chicken is involved, but the pig is COMMITTED!

You may have heard this riddle from someone in your chain of command and above your pay grade. They also may have said they wanted you to be the pig, not the chicken, because they wanted you to be COMMITTED.

But is the pig really the committed one in this riddle? Well, let's take a look at each and see.

The Pig

For the pig to be a part of the bacon-and-egg breakfast, the pig has to be slaughtered. No one asks the pig if it would like to be slaughtered. The pig certainly doesn't volunteer for this. Some might say that the pig was born to be your bacon but I'll bet the pig would disagree. The problem with being slaughtered is that the pig can only be slaughtered once. This is like the employee that may start out strong but quickly fizzles out and looks for employment elsewhere within a short time if you haven't already made plans to accelerate this process...or worse, they stay.

Is this real commitment? In a pig's eye.

The Chicken

For the chicken to be part of the bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken only has to do what is in its very nature - its passion. The chicken was born to lay eggs. The chicken doesn't know how not to lay eggs. You don't even have to ask for the eggs, the chicken just does it. The best part is that the chicken will continue to lay eggs for as long as she is physically able. This is like the employee that gives you years of sustained superior performance because they have found their passion and revel in doing it everyday.

Is this real commitment? You can bet the farm on it.

Employers - How do you find your chicken?

So how do you find this committed, passionate employee? Going through the same old motions and asking the same old interview questions like "What is your greatest weakness?" aren't going to help you find the passion for which you are looking. These will help you find good employees but they won't help you find great employees. The only way to find this commitment is to provide an environment for this passion to shine. Try this. When inviting a candidate to an interview, provide them with your top 2 or 3 pain points, the real reason you are hiring, and let the candidates show you what they would do to help ease your pain while supporting the recommendations with past achievements, experience, and education. I will bet you dollars to donuts the candidate with true passion will knock your socks off. At best, you will find your chicken. At worst, you may come away with some great ideas on how to tackle your toughest issues.

Job Seekers - How do you channel your inner chicken?

Have you found your true passion, the thing that really gets your juices flowing, that really gets you excited? (Please don't confuse being good at something with being passionate about it.) If you haven't found this yet, you may need help in the form of a mentor or career coach. Hey, even Tiger Woods has a coach. Michael Jordan had a coach. Lance Armstrong had a coach. OK, maybe that last one wasn't a very good example but almost everyone who reaches the top of their profession does so with help. A mentor or career coach can help you find your passion and then help you find the best place to let that passion shine.

Calling the pig the committed one in this riddle is poppycock. The chicken is the truly committed and passionate one. Now that you know this, go and strut your stuff.

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