You're Great. Now What?

Yesterday at the Fistful of Talent, the FOT crew announced their latest Talent Management blog power rankings.

And in a shock that has to rival Villanova beating Georgetown for the NCAA title in 1985, or the Jets surprising the Colts in Super Bowl III, my blog, this little HR Technology blog, came out at number one on the rankings.

I don't believe it either.  From unranked to number one. Calls for a recount are clearly warranted.

I am still waiting for Tim Sackett or Kris Dunn to announce the mistake and tell me that I have just been punked.

Seriously, many thanks to Kris, Jessica Lee and everyone at the Fistful of Talent for the recognition, I am truly appreciative and humbled.

It is great to get positive feedback, whether it is for the blog, the HR Happy Hour show, or for a sweet smoked brisket.  But to me the real key is how you respond, what you do next.

After the USA hockey team shocked the world in the 1980 Olympic games by defeating the mighty and seemingly invincible Russian team the truth is they had not really accomplished much of anything. They had to come back in the next game and defeat Finland in order to win the gold medal and secure their place in sports history.

Had they lost the final game to Finland, we would still remember them, but not quite the same way, not with reverence and not as the legendary team they became.

So here is the lesson:  if someone says you're great, whether it's your boss, your colleagues, or friends, accept their compliments (even if, as is the case with my FOT ranking, secretly thinking they are crazy), be humble, and then figure out how you are going to be better tomorrow.

Rankings, accolades, etc. are all temporary.  But consistent, deliberate good work endures.

For me, I will try to live up to the high praise from the FOT team, and keep doing good work here and on the show.

Thanks to FOT and to everyone that stops by the blog.