News

I was in my early twenties and in my first job when I came across a company that looked like an exciting place to work; a company where they were doing what I wanted to do, so I picked up the phone and called the managing director...

My call went through to reception and I remember asking the woman on the phone who I could talk to about what it takes to get a job with their company.

I was put through to a Mr Shultz, who listened patiently when I told him I thought the kind of work the company does was exciting. I asked him what would I have to do, or achieve, to qualify for a job with the company.

He asked me a few questions about myself and my qualifications, and then informed me the company wasn't hiring at the time, but he would keep my name, telephone number and address on file for when they were (it turned out he was the owner and managing director).

Several years passed and I heard nothing more. Truth be told, I forgot all about the company until one day a friend called me and told me to ring his dad because his dad had spotted something concerning me in the newspaper (Mr Nel was famous for reading the newspaper every single day, end to end, every word).

It turns out there was a classified advertisement in the newspaper which read:

"Colin Kennedy, who used to live at Payne Road. Please call me on the number below. Mr Shultz."

I called Mr Shultz and four weeks later I was employed by that company, complete with a company car. It was also the company that eventually promoted me to my first management position.

There's another similar story about Steve Jobs, who at the age of 12 was building an electronic device known as a frequency counter. Missing some spare parts, he picked up the phone book and looked up the CEO of Hewlett Packard Bill Hewlett.

Steve Jobs introduced himself and said: "'I want to build a frequency counter, and I was wondering if you had any spare parts I could have?"

Not only did he get the spare parts, he got a holiday job on the assembly line putting frequency counters together.

I remember a seminar by New Zealand financial advisor, wealth coach and author, Martin Hawes, during which he told the audience: "If you want a salary increase, go into your boss's office and ask for it. The worst he or she can say is 'no' and, you never know, it may be the most profitable two minutes of your life".

The moral of these stories is simple:

"Ask, and you shall receive".

As we get older, we lose the childlike power of simply asking for something even if it's just for advice:

"What do I need to do to qualify for a job with your company?"

"What do I need to do to earn this promotion?"

"Can I have a salary increase?"

"Most people never pick up the phone and call; most people never ask. And that's what separates sometimes the people that do things from the people that just dream about them." Steve Jobs

by Colin Kennedy