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- The REAL reason I almost got fired
The REAL reason I almost got fired
HR is not your friend
Back in 2015 or so, I was working at a series B startup called CreativeLive (online education for creative people… it was a cool company).
One morning I got an meeting invitation from our head of HR for that Friday afternoon with some vague title like “touching base."
(never a good sign, right?)
You probably know where this is headed, but I was so clueless I thought nothing of it. I actually thought maybe it was good news… maybe they were going to promote me!
Turns out… not so much 😅
To make a long story short, I almost got fired in that meeting because apparently someone wasn’t happy with my “culture fit.”
(translation: we don’t like your vibes)
I was caught totally off guard, but in that moment I learned something:
You should never, ever trust any company with your future.
The minute they think they’re better off without you, you’re gone.
Which is why everybody needs to build a personal brand: so nobody can pull the rug out from under you.
When you have a personal brand (and an audience), you live in an entirely different world than everyone else— YOU call the shots.
People know and respect you as an expert in your field. You choose how you want to work (consultant, full time employee, entrepreneur… it’s all up to you).
You don’t have to worry about what some HR drone thinks of you. In fact, the more you show up as your authentic self, the more opportunities you get.
Sounds good, right? It is!
Me, 8 years later and still salty about it
Now, let’s get specific about how to make it happen.
If you want to get started but aren’t sure what to do, I suggest posting 2-3 times a week on LinkedIn:
TOP OF THE FUNNEL: Your opinion on some big picture trend or news item in your industry. This will generate conversation in the comments and get your name in the feed.
MIDDLE OF THE FUNNEL: Go a little bit deeper with content that shows your specific expertise. Maybe a tutorial or explanation of how a commonly misunderstood thing actually works.
(don’t worry about bottom of the funnel for now)OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED: Post a video every few weeks. Doesn’t need to be fancy, just something so they can hear your voice, read your body language, and see you as something more than a tiny little LinkedIn profile picture.
You can probably do this in less than an hour a week, and even this is more than literally 90% of people do on LinkedIn so it puts you at the head of the pack!
And hopefully you never get an ominous Friday afternoon meeting invitation from HR like I did 🙃
PS - Here’s the part where I try to sell you something… if you want to work with me to grow on YouTube or LinkedIn, just reply to this email or set up a call here