Your words and your actions could lead you to become a valuable asset to your employer. Harrison concludes by saying, “Become the cure – not the cause of your employer’s struggles”.
2. Employers Must Deal With A Constant Source Of Challenges And Mishaps. You need to be see as the cure to those problems. NOT the source. The best candidate is always the cure to problems.
3. Because My House Is Literally On The Ocean, I Am Always seeing People On Surf Boards And Jet-Skis One day, I decided that I would be one of those people on a jet-ski, and I purchased one on Ebay for $500. This was the next “toy” I would by in an extensive line of items that were meant to develop my love of the ocean. All of which had failed miserably.
4. A Couple Of Years Ago, I Purchased An Inflatable Boat. It was just like the ones in the movies, that are launched off of larger boats for rescue . I am the first one to admit that working in front of a computer all day, every day, can cause a man to do some strange things. I ended up negotiating with the store owner for a few hours over the price of the inflatable boat.
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6. As A Brief Aside Before I Get Back To The Inflatable Boat, On One Occasion I Bought Some Suits From Macy’s That Ended Up Totaling About $1,000. “ I don’t think I want to spend this kind of money,” I said, somewhat passively at the cash register. And just like that, she pulled out an employee discount card that saved me 80%. I SPENT ONLY $200!
7. Getting Back To My Boat, I Was Walking Down The Coast Line One Day, When I Decided It Was The Perfect Time To Inflate My Boat. The waves were as tall as I was, and my assistant, who was with me at the time said something like: “I would not go out there if I were you.” I should have listened to him.
8. The Boat Did Not Handle The Water Very Well, And Ended Up Flipping Over And Flooding. The boat fell to pieces and we ended up attempting to track down the missing pieces using the headlights on my truck for light. The situation was probably worse than I can remember and I’m pretty sure my assistant went into psychological shock.
9. The Jet Ski I Had Purchased, On The Other Hand, Was Much Lighter Than The Boat, However… I made the mistake of not realizing that this jet-ski was made for something like a lake, and not the beastly ocean. I ended up at the Sea-Doo store a few weeks later. I negotiated for a few hours and ultimately left with BIGGEST and most BAD ASS Sea Doo in the store!
10. After Deciding That I Would Keep The Sea Doo Underneath My House… The Salesman and I agreed on a beach delivery, where we would launch it by my house. However, our first attempt to launch was met with the threat of a ticket from a state parks official.
11. After Finding A Useable Spot And Actually Riding It, The Salesman Helped Me Launch It Onto The Beach… 20 feet from my house. We both then realized that there would be no way of moving this machine, which probably weighed around 1,000 pounds, any closer to my house. It was doomed to be washed away by the tide.
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13. Eventually, The Process Of Rounding Up Workers At The Grocery Store Became Too Tedious. I looked online and found a contraption that the person selling it claimed would help me transfer my Sea Doo into the ocean without needing five guys to help me. However, when I loaded the Sea Doo onto it, and took it to the beach, it simply sunk in the sand, immobile and unusable.
14. I Looked Online Again And Found A Solution To This Problem. Some guy was selling a special kind of tire, that looked sort of like two basketballs welded together. I was sure that this was the answer to my problems.
15. One Day I Came Down To Where I Stored My Jet Skis And Found That The Little One Had Been Completely Washed Away. The Sea Doo, however, had only been moved a little bit. I now realized that because I live so close to the ocean, any time there was a storm, my Sea Doo would be in danger. I Decided that the best solution was to build a special ramp to load it into my house.
16. The Carpenter I Contracted To Build The Ramp Was Very Proud Of His Work… And when it was finally completed after several weeks… IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE! I ended up paying a couple thousand dollars extra for the ramp due to some unforeseen additions the carpenter needed to make.
17. When The Jet Ski Moving Contraption (The Welded Basketballs) Arrived… It sort of worked. The Sea Doo did not get stuck in the sand, however, it was still so heavy that it required two people to move it. Also, the beach sloped away from the house, making it very difficult to carry the Sea Doo back towards the house without extra help.
18. I Was Puzzled. How was it possible that someone could live right next to the Ocean and not be able to use his own jet ski?
19. I Realized The Solution: I would buy an ATV to tow the Sea Doo.
20. I Located An Extreme ATV, And By The Time I Was Ready To Use It, A Neighbor Came Up To Me And Said… “ Dude. I have been living on the water for years and I also grew up with ATVs. I just want to tell you that there is no way what you are contemplating doing is going to work.” He was wrong and I was able to tow the Sea Doo with the ATV.
21. As Well As It Worked, About The Third Or Fourth Time I Used It… The cable snapped on the winch and went flying towards the Jet Ski.
22. You are probably asking yourself: “What does any of this have to do with your job search and life?” Believe it or not, this succession of events has a lot to do with you and your career. In fact, these particular episodes teach some of the strongest lessons about getting and keeping a job that you may ever learn.
23. Going Back To The Time I Was Given An 80% Discount While Buying Suits At Macy’s, I Recall That Truly Needed Those Suits. I absolutely could not have gone to work without those suits. Literally, I only owned one suit at the time. The new suits were a cure for one problem.
24. When I Had To Pick Up Those Guys At The Grocery Store… To help me move my Sea Doo, there was no other choice. There was no other way to move my Sea Doo.
25. When My Sea Doo Was In Danger Of Washing Away Into The Sea… I needed to call someone familiar with this sort of work. There are not a lot of engineers out there who specialize in boats, and who are also carpenters. The guy I hired for this had the cure for my problem.
26. If You Are The Best Candidate For The Job, Then… YOU ARE THE CURE FOR THE PROBLEM! Let this be known through your words, and let it be seen in your actions. Then marvel as you watch your destiny unfold.
