Latest / The Talent Brief / The Question That Changed Everything
Transcript
- Jeff Ganter: Welcome back. Today is a little different. If you've been listening for a while, you've probably heard me talk about careers, leadership, and something I've come to call signals versus scripts. But today, I want to tell you why any of this matters to me. Because the truth is, I never set out to become a coach. For more than 20 years, I owned a recruiting firm. If you had asked me back then what I did, I probably would have said I helped companies find great talent. And that was true. But it wasn't the whole story. Over the years, I've interviewed thousands of people. Executives, designers, engineers, administrative professionals, leaders, people just starting their careers. People trying to rebuild them. Every person walked into those convo conversations carrying a story. Some were confident. Some were terrified. Some knew exactly where they were headed. Others were trying to convince themselves they still wanted a path they had already outgrown. Then I started noticing something. Different industries. Different personalities different stages of life. Yet I'd hear the same sentence over and over again. I knew I knew this wasn't the right company. I knew I should have left sooner. I knew something fell off. I knew that leader wasn't who they appeared to be. Every time I heard it. I found myself asking the same question If you knew, why didn't you listen? That question stayed with me for years. Honestly, it still does. Because I realized it wasn't really about careers. It was about us. Why do intelligent people override themselves? Why do capable people talk themselves out of what they already feel? How do we trust everyone else's certainty more than our own awareness? I became fascinated by those questions. I still am. Then something unexpected happened. I started coaching. At first, I assumed the conversations would be completely different. Instead, they became deeper. People weren't asking me how to write a resume or prepare for an interview. They were asking questions like, How do I trust myself again? How do I stop second guessing every decision? What if I've ignored myself for years? What if I were more confident? Those aren't career questions. Those are human questions. And that's when something clicked. Recruiting hadn't prepared me to become a coach because I understood hiring. It prepared me because I'd spent two decades listening, really listening. Not just to what people were saying, but the hesitation, the excitement. The pause before answering. The moment someone finally said out loud what they've been caring for months. Those moments fascinated me. They still do. Looking back, I don't think I ever changed careers. I simply walked through another door. Recruiting introduced me to people. Coaching allows me to stay with them a little longer. It gives us time and space to explore the conversations that don't fit inside a one hour interview. The conversations about identity, fear, growth, self-trust, and what keeps us stuck long after we already know the answer. That's why signals versus strips has become such an important part of my work. After thousands of conversations, I realize that most people aren't lacking answers. They're overriding what they already know. I've watched it happen for years. Eventually I realized I'd done it too. And maybe that's why this chapter feels different. Yes, I'm still talking about careers. I'm still talking about leadership. But I'm also sharing a little more of myself. Because if I'm asking people to trust themselves, I'm not I think it's only fair that you get to know the person asking those questions. So thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for letting me share a little more of my story because I have a feeling we're only at the beginning of this conversation. I'm Jeff Ganter. I'll see you next time.