Work Smarter, Not Harder

175198827In August, our company received an award for being one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. Being very proud of the achievement, I decided to pass the good news along to my friends and family first. As expected, I received congratulations and words of admiration back but there was a constant theme in what was being communicated back to me that caught my attention. Most often I was congratulated for my “hard work and dedication,” and although this might fly in the face of most entrepreneurs, I’m not sure these are the two main reasons that I have experienced success in my career.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think that hard work and dedication are absolutely a formula for success, especially since one of my favorite business quotes is from Mark Cuban: “The only thing you can control in business is your effort.” I also believe dedication is important to success, although I would probably lean toward commitment as my preferred word choice. Ultimately, though, I believe my success to date has been predicated on “smart work and experimentation,” and I think the two go together for me.

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At one of my first jobs there was a sales rep who used to stay late every day. Day after day I would walk past his desk after normal business hours and there he was. I thought to myself this guy has to be doing great, he’s here all the time. I bumped into his manager in the hallway one day and decided to give the sales rep a plug and mention how I see him here late so often. To my surprise, his manager had noticed the same thing but his results did not reflect his hours at the office. The manager said to me “working long is not the same thing as working hard.” Over the years I’ve probably repeated that mantra in my head dozens of times.

In our business of contingent search you have to be mindful of what you are working on and its likelihood of converting into revenue for your company. This does mean that smart work may have you sometimes working weekends. However, I’ve found the trick is to really think about what you are putting your effort into and make sure that it’s worth your time. So many companies have no problem allowing you to spin your wheels on “non-opportunities” so having a good vetting process ensures your potential clients are serious. Also, get rid of the time sucking tasks that show little to no return.

As entrepreneurs and business owners we are often approached for assistance because of our creativity and ability to see angles that others don’t, so I frequently find myself attempting to solve problems that are completely new to me. No one is going to be right 100 percent of the time and if you can be right most of the time your well ahead of everyone else. To get a jump on industry changes, I’ll use my time to conduct research on trends and projections and then set aside some budget to test out disruptive technologies or new trends in our business. This experimentation has led to creating a solid set of recruiting tools for our company, creation of a solid social media presence, and improvement to employee morale and retention.

Keep these two principles in mind when you stare at your to-do list and ask yourself if there might be a better way to spend the next hour of your day.

MORE: Are your internal processes effective?

Doug Bryson

Doug Bryson
Doug Bryson is president of operations for Spearhead Staffing, an IT staffing provider specializing in life sciences positions in the greater New York City area.

Doug Bryson

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2 Responses to “Work Smarter, Not Harder”

  1. […] In August, our company received an award for being one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. Being very proud of the achievement, I decided to pass the good news along to my friends and family first.  […]

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