I was attending the ALA’s Annual Conference a few weeks back which led me into a week-long volleyball tournament. Listening to Rick Rigsby inspired me in all the right ways to begin anew, in this time and space, even as strange as it is at times. He grabbed my attention with this quote: “Champions are champions not because they do extraordinary things. Champions are champions because they do ordinary things better than anyone else.” He offered a pretty consistent reminder that the basics are differentiators. Think about your hiring practices, what are you doing well? Usually it’s the basics – asking good questions, having a clear identity for your organization, communicating your culture well enough to identify a quality candidate – that create success.
Now I’m here, playing this tournament, and with each new match we open with the same dialogue – take care of our side of the court (basic), communicate frequently (basic), and better the ball (okay, a little more complex). My point is that when we take care of the basics the rest is easier.
What are your basics? And how can you tune them today?
