ScatterBrain

WHEW – what a week so far. It’s been almost a whole week of non-stop being on.

On Thursday, I spoke at City Hall, and was told that I should invest in public speaking training. On Saturday, I got up on stage in front of a few hundred young leaders and won a speaking competition.

Since Sunday, I’ve been in Ottawa, speaking about and discussing Generation Y in the workplace. And I’ve been very , um, fiery about it.

Tomorrow, after a few key meetings, I’m off to Edmonton for another speaking thing. Only this time, I’ve been warned in advance that my opinions may not be very welcome.

I think I read too much Seth Godin when I started TalentEgg, because I’ve never been able to get the whole ‘be remarkable’ thing out of my head. When I speak, when I write, I’m often quite controversial. Not simply for the sake of being remarkable – that would be fake, and, because I can’t be anything but honest, I would be transparent.

My opinions are often remarkable because I’m completely passionate about what I’m speaking about. And because I’m attacking a problem in the Canadian market that hasn’t been effectively dealt with yet… A problem whose solution may require some established institutions to change (in a good way)… and because sticking to the status quo is usually easier.

The result is that some people aren’t going to agree with me, I guess.

Soniya from Techvibes wrote in a recent article that TalentEgg was just one part of my ‘lofty plans’ for the future. And it’s true to some extent – I won’t be doing this forever.

BUT

I have lofty plans for TalentEgg. Its mission is and always has been to help make transitioning from school to work easier for students.

My success, and TalentEgg’s success, is in part measured in revenues, traffic, cash flow, and brand.

But it is also measured in our ability as a company and a group of passionate and informed individuals to raise awareness of the mess that IS campus recruitment, and encourage effective CHANGE.

On Monday, my presentation was part of an entire conference on “transformation”, examining how organizations react to change and how we can better prepare and manage teams for successful change.

When the conference organizer asked us all to write down 10 words we associated with change, almost everyone had these two words on their list: “Resistance” and “Opportunity”.

Today I think we (TalentEgg) faced our first serious Resistance. But it’s ok, it’s part of change. Given that it’s the first time in two years, it seems the Opportunity side has won, big time.