feature article

How to Strengthen your Roots to Weather Change
by Graze Moniz

"Change your leaves, keep intact your roots."  Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

With a newly elected president and cabinet six months in office, the country and indeed the world, continue to anticipate change. Whether you resist or embrace change, it is difficult to predict how it will affect your life.

Yet, there is a practical way to prepare for change. At the risk of stating the obvious, the better you know yourself, the more open you are to options, and the more able you are to make positive choices for yourself. In other words, the stronger your roots, the better you are able to weather change.

Perhaps you are holding back on a purchase, wondering if you will have a job tomorrow or next month? Or maybe you are among the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose jobs have evaporated in the last several months, and you are trying to figure out your next career move. In business and in life, large and small decisions must be made every day that can have far-reaching consequences.

The easiest way to be comfortable with your decisions and be effective in their execution is to understand your tolerance for change, and to make choices that are in alignment with your values, strengths, communication styles, and needs. Notice that this has very much to do with you as an individual, and little to do with bull or bear markets or who is president.

In this competitive job market, taking the time to assess, know and understand yourself conserves valuable job search time by targeting only opportunities in which you can succeed. It can be crucial in making the right decision to remain in or transfer to a new career. If you remain true to your roots – the essence of who you are at your core – then you are better able to capitalize on your strengths and differentiate yourself from the competition – exuding passion and energy as you network and interview. 

Defining your roots:

• Consider past experiences in which a tremendous sense of accomplishment was felt. What steps did you take to bring the event to fruition? Most probably your strengths – that which you do well and enjoy doing - were utilized.
• Spend time to quiet and center yourself. Visualize getting up in the morning, preparing for a day at your ideal job and 'living' that day. What did the environment look like – open, cubicles, closed offices, outdoors, bright colors, uniforms, professional or casual? What did the environment feel like – fast-paced, well organized, chaotic, calm? What activities were pursued during the day and how were they pursued – independently, collaboratively, methodically, insightfully? What had you achieved by the day's end and how did you feel about returning the next day?

While it's impossible to know what our world will look like in five years – we do know that it won't be the same as it is today.  The seasons will change and our leaves will come and go. Yet we can remain flexible, confident and decisive, rooted in self-knowledge. 

Grace Moniz is the Founder of Career-Insights and leads workshops and provides career coaching to students and alumni of the Graziadio School.

Ms. Moniz leads a Roots Workshop based on the Birkman Method®. Participants of the workshop receive a 40-50 page personalized assessment based on answers to the Birkman questionnaire which is completed online prior to the workshop. If you are interested in learning more, contact Tina Ohmstede at the Office of Alumni and Career Services.

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success story - in your words
The Pepperdine Network At Work

Technically Josh Schwede and Chris Higbee did not meet at the Graziadio School. Josh was a 2004 graduate of the Full-time MBA program, based on the main university campus in Malibu. Chris was in the process of completing his Fully Employed MBA in 2004, attending class out of Pepperdine's Irvine graduate campus.

Yet the Pepperdine connection – and a shared entrepreneurial spirit – would ensure these two graduate's paths would cross. Today both are part of the management team of HireVue, a Salt Lake City-based company leading the industry in video interviewing services. HireVue clients include Google, Whirlpool, and the Hard Rock Café.

Chris Higbee

"I worked for a human resources start-up located literally across the street from the Van Karman campus," remembers Chris. "I was putting into practice during the day everything I was learning at night at the Graziadio School. It was a phenomenal way to learn."  Fresh from graduation, Josh was hired at the same company as director of Business Development. His first day on the job, Chris took him to lunch.

"He's a salt of the earth type guy," says Josh of Chris. "He's very easy to approach. You can tell he's the kind of person you want to go to work with every day." Together the two helped to grow the business from start-up to a public company to finally an acquisition. Chris credits his participation in the Graziadio School's Entrepreneurial Management Track in strengthening his entrepreneurial abilities.

In 2007, Chris and Josh parted ways. Josh headed east to Chicago, while Chris relocated to Salt Lake City. Fast forward, 2009. The economy has been in a tailspin for months and companies continue to cut back on expenses. But there remains a real need to hire and maintain talent. Josh is contacted by HireVue, a company that is experiencing exceptional growth because it can help streamline the hiring process for companies with offices scattered around the world.

Josh Schwede

"I was approached by HireVue CEO and founder Mark Newman," says Josh. "I took one look at HireVue and its product, and I knew there was tremendous growth ahead for this company."  As HireVue's new Vice President of Business Development, Josh also knew he needed marketing and sales support. "You can't form a successful channel partnership strategy without support in those functions," adds Josh. "So the second I realized the company was based in Salt Lake City, I called Chris."

Unbeknown to Josh, Chris was already making overtures to HireVue. Chris had met another HireVue co-founder, Ryan Money, in 2005 through a shared acquaintance. According to Chris, he was impressed with the concept but felt it might still be ahead of its time. The same day Josh pitched CEO Mark Newman about Chris, so too did Chris's contact. Today Chris serves as Vice President of Marketing, working hand-in-glove with Josh in business development to strengthen HireVue's position in the marketplace.

"HireVue is built on the simple fact that companies are spending a lot of money flying people in for interviews, or flying recruiters out to interview. They are also  spending a lot of time internally analyzing these candidates," observes Chris. "Through video interviewing, HireVue can help companies save money and improve quality of their hires."

"We offer something relevant in today's economy," adds Josh. "Companies are being hammered with doing more with less, but when things do turn around some will be in trouble. HireVue will offer them the ability to scale quickly. We also offer something innovative. No one heard of YouTube three years ago, because the technology wasn't there. Video is now here and HR departments want to know how they can take advantage of it."

Josh and Chris remain connected with the Graziadio School as well, posting jobs with HireVue, connecting with prospective clients, and looking to former classmates for everything from feedback on branding efforts to copywriting expertise on white papers and case studies. "We're also working with the Dean's office to share what we've learned with current students in whatever way we can," says Josh. "We owe a lot to the school and we continue to reap the benefits of having attended Pepperdine. So if we can give back somehow, if just one student can be inspired by our story to start a business or take a risk like we did, we'd be thrilled."

To contact Josh Schwede or Chris Higbee, or to learn more about HireVue, visit www.HireVue.com.