Three years ago, I made two life-changing decisions: relocating to a new country and joining LinkedIn. Both were leaps of faith, and without a doubt, relocating is among the top three best decisions I’ve ever made.

It’s been a journey of growth, challenges, and revelations. An adventure that continues to shape who I am. While it’s impossible to capture the entirety of an ongoing experience in one post, I want to share three key lessons I’ve embraced this past year: a year that pushed me in ways I never anticipated.

1. Focus on What You Can Control

This lesson has been a recurring theme in my life, and truthfully, it’s one I’m still learning. The past year was tough. Marked by overwhelming news, emotional spirals, and moments when compassion felt out of reach.

In those moments, I realized I needed to protect my well-being by shifting my focus to what I could control. That meant stepping away from toxic social media, limiting exposure to the news, and creating distance from energy-draining relationships.

Instead, I poured my energy into positive interactions and spaces that nurtured me (and learned to spend a lot of “me time” and enjoying it). It’s not a perfect practice, but it’s brought clarity and peace in an otherwise chaotic year.

2. Keep on Learning

Sales is a profession of highs and lows, but it’s also a field rich with opportunities to grow. This year, I joined Habibi, an employee resource group fostering connections among Middle Eastern, North African, and Arab colleagues. Inspired by these interactions, I decided to start learning Arabic: a language I’ve always felt I should know as an Israeli.

Learning Arabic has been about so much more than words. It’s been a journey into culture, music, and history. And it’s shown me the power of effort: when you take the time to learn something meaningful to others, you open doors to deeper understanding and connection.

In the spirit of “practicing what you preach,” here’s a short video of my first speech in Arabic:

3. Appreciate the Small Things

Relocating, even with all its rewards, can sometimes feel isolating, especially during a challenging year like this one. But even in lonely moments, I’ve found magic in the small things: an unexpected act of kindness, a serendipitous cultural discovery, or a quiet moment of joy. These seemingly minor experiences have been my anchors.

They’ve reminded me that where we place our attention shapes our experience. By seeking out and savoring these daily positives, I’ve found the strength to keep moving forward.

Moving forward here are my 2 cents

Relocating has taught me a lot, but one realization stands out: I often catch myself feeling frustrated by where I thought I’d be by now compared to where I am. It’s a reminder that, much like maintaining health or fitness, there’s no finish line: only a journey of highs and lows. And that’s okay.

Through it all, I’ve learned that thriving isn’t about grand milestones but the little things: focusing on what truly matters, staying curious, and finding joy in the everyday.

Here’s to the lessons yet to come.

The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James, is a legendary walking trail that stretches from various points in Europe, all leading to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I had my eye set on this experience for quite some time, but life kept getting in the way.

At the start of 2024, I made a wish list, and almost hesitantly I added "Camino de Santiago?" (yes, with a question mark). I wasn’t sure if life’s commitments and this adventure would align, but sometimes when you put things out into the universe, it answers.

And so, the universe listened. A good friend of mine had organized a group trek, and as luck would have it, someone dropped out at the last minute. I seized the opportunity.

After 4.5 days, 120~ kilometers, countless new faces, and some much-needed "me time," I came away with three key lessons (reminders) that I’d like to share:

1.“What’s Your Story?”

The most common question on the trail wasn’t “Where are you from?” or “What do you do for a living?” but rather, “What’s your story?” It was the go-to question when meeting fellow pilgrims, and it immediately shifted conversations away from the mundane to something far more meaningful.

I met people who were walking to cope with the loss of a loved one, some walking in their memory. I encountered a couple who had made it a yearly tradition, now hiking with their four-month-old baby.

Almost every conversation on the Camino began with that simple, yet profound question. It opens the door for someone to share something deeper, shifting the dynamic from small talk to a life lesson. In fact, I found myself moved to tears more than once from the stories I heard

2. Change Your Routine

As a runner, my instinct is always to hit the ground running, literally. I usually lace up and hit the trails with the intent to explore both the scenery and my own thoughts through running.

But this time, I was with a group, and the focus was on walking. At first, I thought, “Seriously? Me, the runner, just walking?” But soon enough, I realized that walking, especially at a fast pace over several days, can be intense in its own way.

What surprised me most was how much more I noticed while walking—more opportunities for conversation, more moments to soak in nature, more reflection. While I’m still itching to run as I write this, there’s something to be said for breaking your routine and discovering something new in the process.

3. Enjoy the Small Stuff

The past year has been a rollercoaster for me, emotionally and mentally. I often feel like I’m ping-ponging between being overwhelmed by social media and completely disconnecting from it all. And let’s face it, daily life can sometimes feel repetitive and dull.

But this past week reminded me of something simple yet profound: there is real joy in the little things. Sunshine on your face, being outside and active, enjoying a good cup of coffee, a beautiful sunset. Like fitness, I believe contentment is a muscle we can train, and how we choose to engage with our everyday lives is very much within our control.

Moving forward here are my 2 cents

Many of the lessons I learn in life aren’t direct; they come in parallel, through different experiences. My first Camino de Santiago was a powerful reminder of things I had let slip: the importance of asking deeper questions, the value of breaking routines to discover something new, and the joy found in small, everyday moments. By sharing these reflections, I not only remind myself to embrace these lessons moving forward but also hope to inspire you to look for your own "parallel lessons" along the way.

The Power Trio: Why Investing in Relationships with Finance, Procurement, and IT Pays Off

In the world of B2B sales, it's easy to fall into the trap of identifying the "obvious" decision maker and putting all of our prospecting and nurturing on that ICP. From my experience of selling to mid-market and enterprise companies, I've found that there are decision makers who are an inevitable part of the buying committee who can be my allies and help significantly in progressing the deal up to closing. I've found 3 main strategies that helped me close those deals, which are not related to the value the solution provides to the main users:

1. Find your allies (who are great influencers) - When planning a deal and identifying the ICP, we usually go with the end user - the obvious. For example: when selling a SaaS solution for sales people, I would focus on the VP/Director of sales. However, there are a few more important decision makers that have nothing to do with sales but have a lot of influence on whether or not to move forward with the purchase and how much to invest in it (they could look at it as a solution for the entire team, one department, just the minimum amount of users etc). By building relationships with influencers such as finance, procurement and IT (when selling a SaaS product), you gain an understanding of the internal politics, who is responsible for the budget, and who is influencing the budget holders. Moreover, you position yourself as a trusted advisor vs. “another vendor”, because you invest time in understanding the full picture and not just one role point of view.

2. Focus on their objectives - when selling to sales leaders we usually focus on increasing ROI, building pipelines and helping the sales reps to work more efficiently. However, when speaking with stakeholders from the buying committee who are not part of the sales organization, we need to understand their objectives. The value of the product we sell should be framed in a way that will meet their KPIs. For example: when speaking with procurement or finance, the focus would be on pricing and payment terms. When speaking with IT, the focus would be on integration and the potential of making other competitive tools redundant. 

3. Find champions to be your advocates - your time with DMs is limited and you never have the full picture of the customer’s internal processes. When you build relationships with different stakeholders who can affect the budget holders, they become your advocates (champions) and “speak your voice” in the rooms where decisions are made. I’ve found that in large organizations, having an internal champion to promote the advantages of my product, helps significantly in closing strategic and long term deals. 

Moving forward here are my 2 cents

The rule of thumb in B2B is that in most purchasing decisions there are made by 5-11 people involved. To make sure you fulfill the potential of closing larger deals, focus on building relationships not only with the "obvious" decision makers who are your ICP. Make sure you build a strong net of allies who can promote and advocate your product internally. It might feel like an obstacle or a potential delay in progress (as you invest time in more people), however, in the long run you’ll see that it pays off. 

By engaging with those influencers and champions, you’ll be surprised how you can close larger deals in less effort. You will transform from being  the “vendor” who keeps pushing to close a deal, to the trusted advisor who understands the full picture of your customer’s sales cycle. 

My “relocation anniversary” took place in November. However, I feel like it’s still October 7th, with 131 days that were added. The past 4 months were an ongoing battle of extreme emotions from despair and fear, through anger and loneliness. While writing this post, I’m trying to summarize 2 years of living abroad but everything is through the lens of the past 4 months. In parallel to witnessing antisemitism, ignorance and avoidance, I had some breakthrough realizations that I noticed and want to focus on them in this blog. 

1.There is always a trade-off - in his podcast, Mark Manson describes the cultural differences that create frustrations. But, the things that frustrate us, many times, hold within them the beautiful values which we take for granted. For example, the Israeli culture is extremely “tribal”. Your life and decisions are EVERYBODY’s business, and they will keep giving you advice and feedback whether you ask for it or not. Because people are so close, elements of reciprocity, collectiveness and caring for people you’ve never met are behaviours that are special and unique to the Israelis. Living abroad for 2 years has given me a new perspective on where I live now and where I come from. This perspective makes one realize that there is always a trade-off. When people are less involved and provide you space, you might feel lonelier. If you don’t dig deep, you might not face your problems and seek for solutions.

2. Add a dot-dot-dot – I recently read the book “You’re Awesome” by Neil Pasricha (highly recommended!). One of the chapters that caught my attention was the chapter focusing on adding an ellipsis (…) to every frustration/ assumption/ disappointment you encounter. I tend to think and speak in exclamation marks. Hence: “I didn’t close that big deal”, “I haven’t found the love of my life”; “I’m not a mom”. By adding the ellipsis to each sentence, one moves from a “determined with no flexibility” mindset to a “long term and growth mindset”. Hence “I haven’t done X… yet”: “I haven’t closed that big deal… yet”, “I haven’t found the love of my life… yet”, “I’m not a mom… yet”. I realized that when I lead with this mindset, I turn the anxiety I feel into hope and motivation to keep on trying until the “yet” will become “I did it”. 

3. Gratitude and generalization – as I wrote in the beginning of the blog, the past few months were filled with pain and sadness. On a personal level, it was a bad mix of national pain and some family tragedy. Some days I struggled to get out of bed and function. Those times led me to focus on gratitude. From the smallest things like a good cup of coffee in the morning, all the way to the big things like my health and being lucky to have a strong and supportive circle of friends. In parallel to focusing on gratitude, I’ve found out that when in agony and fear, the automatic instinct is to put people “in boxes”. Every reaction of one person, immediately leads to saying: “all of them are like that”. But by doing so I felt the lack of fairness towards those who were sensitive, who saw my pain, who reached out and checked in. This lesson is an ongoing one as the easiest thing is to generalize and address people according to their background, religion, culture. However, that narrows one’s ability to see beyond the shallow assumptions and flat categories. 

Moving forward here are my 2 cents

I think the beauty and challenge lies within the understanding that people, places and situations can have different shades. When I manage to keep a flexible and open-minded approach towards challenges, the journey towards solving them becomes a bit easier. All those 3 lessons are still work in progress. I haven’t fully embraced them… yet :)

As you know, my blog usually focuses on business related topics, and mostly around relationships building and sales. However, since October 7th, 2023 all of my mental and emotional resources are focused on trying to regulate my emotions.

The horrific terror attack by Hamas, that led to the murder of 1500 people, thousands of injured and 239 hostages, hit me with an overwhelming feeling of despair. In the past 46 days I’ve been finding myself shifting between extreme emotions, from being hopeful to feeling like I want to vanish due to the power of the pain.

Inbal Sason, a dear friend of mine, shared with me the podcast of Matan Hakimi, where he hosts Dr. Oz Guterman discussing how to grow from trauma .

I’ve found this podcast so valuable for me and decided to summarize the main takeaways I learned from it.

I am positive those 4 takeaways will help me, both on the personal and professional aspects.

How can you grow from trauma?

1. Be active - one of the typical effects of trauma is the feeling of despair and paralysis. Keeping yourself active builds a path in the brain that converts the feeling of despair into the feeling of control. Even if we talk about the smallest action, just do it: drink a glass of water, go for a walk, call someone.

If you manage to keep a routine of working out, that's another level of self care and will help significantly, as sports are great in regulating anxiety.

Again, you make a choice and follow it: create control in the chaos.

2. Help others - it might sound like a highlight of the Osho/Dalai Lama speech, however when we help others we immediately feel better with ourselves because we did something meaningful for others. It could be something small like a message of checking in and asking a friend "how are you?" or helping with children who are away from school etc.

The main point is to move from our thoughts and focus on doing good for others. The immediate result is the help with and the outcome is moving away from our fears and thoughts.

3. Knowledge and awareness - watching the news and painful content in endless scrolling creates the illusion of being up to date, while in reality that makes our Cortisol level spike through the roof. This increases the stress in our body and makes us feel even worse, looking for relief. Moreover, the current focus is on terms like “trauma”, “post trauma”, “anxiety” but one hardly hears about resilience, growing from trauma, practical tips to cope with these difficult times.

I’ve found that the more I focus on content that provides me with practical tools and tips on how to navigate these times, the better I feel.

Also, I removed the social media apps from my main screen of the cell phone. If I have to take more steps to find them, Immediately I use them less.

4. Write 3 things you are grateful for - This is a tool I learned from Yael Negrea. When everything is so chaotic and dark, being able to see the small rays of light, creates hope.

One of the things which I have found profoundly inspiring and touching is the collective help and assistance in Israel.

Despite the fact that I’m abroad, sensing this togetherness and volunteering force reminded me how proud I am to be an Israeli.

Writing down 3 things I’m grateful for every night helps me end my day with a clear mind that there are good things happening in the world even if most of the time I feel sad and helpless.

My 2 cents moving forward

I’m far from feeling happy and jolly. The tips I’ve shared with you are a personal goal I set for myself and I have a daily struggle to keep them. I’ve found that the more I focus on what I can control, the less anxious I become. As the famous quote from The Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Working in sales feels like a rollercoaster. Some of it includes great parts that give you a rush like engaging with customers, closing a deal, hitting quota. And it also has some difficult parts: losing a deal, churn and facing rejection on a daily basis.

During my last few years working in sales, I realized that one of the most difficult things for me to embrace is when I am being ignored. Hence, when I try to contact a potential customer/partner/key stakeholder but never receive an answer. Like the dating world, being "Ghosted" is one of the most annoying situations to face. In a magical and a perfect world, my wish would be to make men, and people in general, become more direct and decisive so they will answer a clear “No” instead of not replying or fading away. However, as the famous quote from Stoicism say: “You can’t control someone’s action but you can control the way you do”.

I’ve found 3 best practices that help me face "ghosting" by customers in a more effective way and even sometimes receiving an answer after not hearing from them for a long while:

1. Up to 3 follow ups - I am aware of the classic sales methodologies that encourage 7 touch points with customers. However, I believe that when you articulate your message well and in a way that the reader understands “what’s in it for them”, you won’t need 7 touch points. From my experience, if someone doesn’t reply after an email and 2 follow ups, it’s a sign that I need to check my messaging or find a different strategy to contact that person. Despite the fact that I don’t let go easily and willing to work hard to get to the relevant decision makers, I also want to be cautious with my time and priorities where to put an effort.

2. ”Third time’s a charm” - Many decision makers are overloaded with work and emails, and sometimes a message gets lost. As shared previously. I always send up to 3 follow ups (first email and 2 follow ups). My third email refers to the famous quote: “Third time’s a charm”. I’ve found that humor and keeping it easy makes it more appealing for the other side to engage than leading with repetitive messages that are focusing on generic messages or pushing to a corner.

3. ”Pull a Nico” - When I joined LinkedIn, I received a great piece of advice from a former colleague of mine: Nicolai Dam Hansen. Nico advised me to be confident enough to detach from the customer and give them an opportunity to come back. Believing that we deliver a real value for the customer and building FOMO means that if they don’t reply, they are the ones who stand to lose by not answering. In case I don’t receive any reply from the recipient after 3 emails, I write kindly that I understand “they are too busy” or “it’s not the right timing” and that I don’t want to spam them with emails, so when they want to discuss how I can help them increase their ROI, shortening sales cycles etc., I’d be happy yo jump on a call.

Something with pressing on a point that reflects the pain of the other party while holding the potential solution, might make them want to hear more. And if not now, maybe later on.

My 2 cents moving forward

Continuously pushing forward while you are in a fog of not knowing how to get a reply from the other side could be difficult and demotivating. But there is also an opportunity lying within this challenge- checking your messaging, understand how you articulate the value you promise and if you’ve identified the pain of the other side in the most accurate way. By reviewing each part of your engagement with the customer in critical eyes, you have a chance to improve “on the go” and find the most effective communication with them.

In this economic environment, most of my conversations with customers are about becoming more efficient with their budget and resources. Obviously, this is not an ideal time to discuss growth and purchasing more solutions.

That being said, I have decided to embrace the famous quote: “When life gives you lemons, add some gin and tonic”, and found 3 tactics to uncover opportunities to grow existing accounts:

1. Keep your friends close and your customers closer

When customers lead with a clear message that they will not be growing and will instead be focusing on reducing any non-survival cost they will most likely not expand and not buy anything from you. Sometimes it can be extremely demotivating and might lead to detachment from your end. I found that doing the opposite and keeping them closer is more successful: more “touch-up” points with value such as: updating them on new features, upcoming price changes, and relevant events might change their resentment. People like to feel desired, sought after and cared for. When you keep your customers close and provide them this feeling, then you pave the way from being just “another vendor that tries to sell”, to being a “trusted advisor who’s with me in good times and challenging times”.

2. Multithreading is the key

The more people you know from your customer's buying committee, the better. Each key stakeholder has different KPIs to achieve and having these insights in advance will help you build a better business case to justify the potential purchase of your product once the time is right. In my case, I sell a product that is mostly used by sales reps. However, there are many other key stakeholders that are involved with the decision to purchase the product, like: procurement, finance, IT. You want to make sure that you are in touch with all those that are involved in your deal because then you "walk the talk" of being a trusted advisor who invests time in building relationships with all the relevant personas for the deal and not just a "touch-and-go" sales rep.

3. Frame your values in harmony with their needs

We all know storytelling is the key to every message we want to articulate. Nevertheless, sometimes when we are under the stress of quota and meeting targets, we might focus on specific features instead of the value of our solution. When we keep our customers close and multithread properly, we can frame the value of the product/solution that we want to sell in a way that will align with each key stakeholder’s focus and needs. When I build relationships with decision makers, I manage to receive a 360 degree perspective and a thorough understanding of how each decision maker perceives the product and what elements are most important for them (features, price, integration capabilities etc.)

My 2 cents moving forward

I’ve found that when I focus on actions I can control, it makes it easier for me to cope with external events that I don’t have any control over. Also, when we focus on "doing" and increasing "touch-up" points with our customers, we immediately increase the chances to unlock a new opportunity for a potential sell.

Usually when I'm thinking of summer in August, I imagine an overly hot and humid month that I just need to survive somehow. Workouts during this month are nothing short of an absolute torture. Luckily two years ago I moved to Dublin and unlike my previous experience, summer time and August in particular were amazing.

During the last weekend I hiked in the Wicklow mountains, and let’s just say that the lashing rain, intense wind and walking through a cloud were not exactly what I had in mind. After surging this encounter with Thor, I realized that I can see Three main resemblance between challenging times at work and facing this kind of weather, at an unexpected time:

1. "It’s not what I signed up for" We all love to succeed and have a great feeling of achievement when we execute our plans seamlessly. However, aspirations and reality don’t always align.

When I decided to join this hike, I checked the weather and it all seemed ok. However, two hours into the hike I found myself in the middle of nature concentrating and trying not to fall due to the slippery roads and bog. During that moment I was annoyed and bitter, and all I could think about was “I did NOT sign up for this!”. I thought it’s going to be a fun day. What a nightmare.

I found myself constantly complaining in my head. Later I realized that sometimes when things don’t go the way I want them to at work, that’s my first reaction: being annoyed with everything that's not going according to plan.

2. Just keep on going

After a few minutes of renting, I realize that this state of mind just makes me weaker and instead I should try to embrace a different approach.

In long distance running the golden rule is just to keep on moving. Even if you don’t see it, you are progressing.

And besides, what help would it do to stay on the mountain with the rain and wind?

At work, it’s hard sometimes to find the motivation to keep on pushing, especially when the “finish line” of the challenging time is not clear. However, what is the alternative? staying on the mountain in the cold? I try to remind myself that the rain and wind don’t last forever. Just keep on moving.

3. A different perspective is the key

Since I try to keep in motion the view changes as I progress, allowing space for new thoughts and perspectives. While the rain was hurting my eyes and I was walking literally through a cloud I thought to myself that at least I still have my resilience despite the fact that I don’t train for any ultra race at the moment. It's always there even when I don't use it.

In work I try to embrace the same approach when things are hard- How can I look at things and what new point of view can I bring to the table? How can I be more agile and innovative in solving this?

Looking forward here are my 2 cents

When you feel out of your element (and sometimes the elements of nature are also not at their best) and nothing is as expected, it can also lead to new realizations and opportunities you never considered or able to see. And this way or the other: this too shall pass.

A few weeks ago we wrapped up the fiscal year in LinkedIn, and I must say, it's been more difficult than expected. Most of the conversations with our customers focused on their need to become more efficient, and how they and other organizations had to lay off great employees due to markets slowing down. I was able to achieve last quarter's targets at the last minute quite literally, on the last day of the quarter. After celebrating a bit, I wanted to look back on the year that was an uphill battle and understand what were the key learnings from it.

Though there were many lessons throughout this year, these 3 are my main takeaways for the new financial year:

1. Growth mindset vs fixed mindset - Working in sales is extremely numbers oriented. We are measured by clear numbers and it’s very dichotomic, whether you are successful or not.

However, KPIs mindset can be a very narrow mindset as it avoids the effort and other objectives that are fulfilled through the journey. When I realized that I can measure my success on more than “just” the cold numbers, I could see the progression and achievements I had this year that are not just the final sell. For example, the number of decision-makers I built relationships with, the depth of the relationship, and different initiatives that lead to providing my customers with valuable insights and knowledge. The main aim is to focus on what I can control and (try) to embrace what is out of my control.

2. Celebrate the small wins - Same as in ultra marathon running, the journey can be exhausting sometimes with endless challenges. When you are halfway to the race, it’s the middle of the night and you feel like you’ll never make it to the finish line. Same as in tough years, the churn increases and it feels like no matter what you do, nothing helps. Despite this uphill battle, there are small wins that can and should be celebrated. For example a positive conversion with a customer where they shared their upcoming forecast (that can help you plan your forecast); identifying churn risk in advance so you can work towards mitigating it; meeting a new decision maker at one of your accounts who is motivated about your product and can potentially be an internal champion.

3. People are everything - account management can be a lonely role. At the end of the day, I have my book of business and customers that I need to figure out how to grow on my own. Having a supportive team can change the day-to-day significantly. Although each of us works on different accounts and different markets, our peer learning, knowledge sharing, support and having a good time turns the bumpy road into an adventure with great views and memorable moments.

Looking forward here are my 2 cents

While summarizing the past year, the new one has already begun at a high speed and with high hopes. Despite the macroeconomic times that are still here, I am trying to lead with the great mindset of Dr. Sues:

"On and on you will hike,

And I know you'll hike far

and face up your problems

whatever they are".

I presume you feel the slowdown in sales despite the market or industry you work in. After giving myself 15 min to complain and vent about how challenging things are, I've decided to follow Churchill’s famous quote: “Never waste a good crisis”. I found 3 best practices to leverage the current slowdown and build stronger relationships that will set the foundations for growth later.

1. Catch-up calls – We usually have a tendency to step away from customers who are slowing their scaling and focus on prospecting and multithreading into those who still show a trend of growth. In general, prioritization is extremely important. To be more specific, we must focus on the actions that will get us to our quota. However, I’ve found that having a 15-20 minute catch up call with my customers keeps the relationship close and provides me with data that can help me significantly. For example: Being notified by the customer about upcoming cut downs, layoffs, or budget changes that could lead to churn in licenses. The early updates can help me plan my forecast better and build a mitigation plan in advance. Also, if they are being promoted or leaving the company, and in general if there are any updates I should be aware of. The catch-up call keeps the space less formal and by keeping it on-the-go, you don’t lose contact.

2. Leveraging compelling events for growth – Each company has its own compelling events one can leverage for their catch-up conversation / QBRs / intro calls. An expected price increase, for example, can be a great opportunity to secure revenue in advance (by signing an early renewal of an annual contract) or upscaling by leading the customer to understand that if they buy before the price increase, they can save X dollars. Leading with value is the golden path and when proactively you contact the customer and help them save money, you build trust and might lead to upsell in the future.

3. Enablement and no sales initiatives – When it’s hard to find opportunities to grow, there is a great opportunity to invest in the infrastructure. The more usage a customer will have in your product, the harder it will be for them to cancel the subscription later. By initiating extra activities of enablement, increasing the engagement among the organization, and providing value that is not focusing on immediate sales, you will build trust that will increase your sales in the long run. Moreover, if you can run events that bring decision makers from different organizations together and facilitate those meetings, you will be perceived by your customers as an advisor that is focusing on the bigger picture and not just on closing deals here and now. I will elaborate on those activities in the next blog.

My 2 cents looking forward

I know it’s really difficult and frustrating that things slow down and there is nothing we can do to change the macroeconomic times. But it's important to remember that building business relationships not a sprint, but a marathon. And just like ultra marathon training, I found that when I focus on the long run, building infrastructure, controlling the controllables and monitoring my actions, it all pays off eventually.

Moving to a new place is moving to an entire new ecosystem. Like moving from the desert to the rain forest. You need to learn to adapt in order to thrive.

Different cultures have so many different nuances that you need to pay attention to, sometimes it's challenging but also exciting to learn from and take as a life lesson.

As it’s St. Patrick’s weekend, I want to share with you 3 skills I got acquainted to by my Irish friends (and I hope they won’t hold them against me):

1. Three degrees to “how are you?” - as an extremely direct person, I’m used to answering straight out to any question, especially an easy question like how I am. Whether it’s good, bad or neutral, you’ll know it as soon as you ask me.

When I just moved here and all the Irish people’s answer to “how are you?” Was always “good” or “grand”, and it seems like everyone is living their best life without any hardship or bad days.

Only later I realized that I will never receive the real direct answer on my first try. I needed to let the conversation warm up a little bit and ask again, peeling the first layer of common courtesy. Still, I felt like there is more under the surface and that there's another layer to co through. If we'll keep on talking for a little longer and create an environment that invites a deeper conversation, then at the third time that I ask I will receive the real answer.

One might think like it is an effort, however, since I started embracing that it’s part of the culture and I've learned how to leverage it and my directness to dig deeper with people I care about.

2. Listen to the unsaid - I’m a woman of words. I love reading and writing and in general embracing things as they are said. However, one skill that is an ongoing lesson that I learn from the Irish is to listen to carefully to the unsaid. There are a lot of things that can be said between the lines that require one’s attention. This is a new muscle I am working on and it’s not always easy to stay on the top of things. But, I like long distance running, so this is my ultra Mara for the upcoming time.

3. Bring the craic! I am a relatively social and friendly person who likes to hang out with people, but my Irish friends are on another social scale. My local friends can go for drinks for a solid night out and stay out until 2am. When I leave earlier, I often hear: “Now?! The Craic has just begun!”.

I find it inspiring that they can know how to have a good time with friends, living each moment, socialize for so many hours straight and that's on a school night. I might never be able to keep up but I take inspiration from you and your spirit!

Looking forward, here are my two cents

In the spirit of "If you're lucky enough to be (hanging out with the) Irish", I think the main take away is to be open minded and patient. Although I feel very different and isolated sometimes, there is a great feeling of personal growth when building close and strong relationships with people who are so different from me and where I come from, but we still share the same interests and values. Happy Paddy's weekend!

These are very challenging times and companies are reassessing their tool stacks. Working for a strong brand doesn’t necessarily make it easier. When a company has a decline in budget, we all have to build a business case that will justify the cost of our products. Or as a sales coach once told me: “lead with a strong value or go home”. So far, no news. I was nevertheless lucky to receive some ad hoc support from an experienced sales manager I work with, Jesse Cook, who helped me close deals despite the risk of churn. In this blog, I want to share three best practices that I have learned from Jesse.

“What is your budget?” Although sales reps are the persons who gain value from the product I sell, I find that most of my conversations are actually with IT, procurement and finance, as they hold the budget for software products and/or are the gatekeepers. Because of that, the discussion is usually about money, as they do not use the product and usually are not involved in the value each feature provides. Their aim is to push towards the lowest price possible while my goal is the opposite, and many times I don’t have flexibility with the prices as well. More often than not, I find myself rushing to suggest the pricing options without even knowing what budget was allocated for the contract. Asking deliberately about the budget makes me cringe but at the same time, it turns the discussion into a much more effective conversation as you can define the playground accordingly.

Define the playground Once you know what is your customer’s budget, you can define the playground borders. As I want to narrow down the areas of disagreement or debate, I thus define the playground we are “playing” in and explain the alternatives: X licenses is tier Y. If you grow to tier Y, you will pay Z dollars less for each license. Or, signing for one year is X dollars, however, signing for 2 or 3 years will grant you with a discount of Y dollars. I found that when the different options are clear, it is easier to identify where the gaps of expectation are, and then proceed to have a focused discussion on how to bridge them. Moreover, the budget that the customer told you is debatable is probably not the actual budget, but less. By suggesting pricing options that are more expensive but align with the customer’s goals (paying less for each license, securing a cheaper price for a longer period of time etc.), you can find yourself signing a larger deal with a higher price than the original budget that was declared.

Anchor with writing As in b2b sales, there are 6-8 people involved in each decision, you want to make sure that once you agree on something, you have it written down. I find it extremely effective to send a recap email right after the meeting. In the email, I ask the customer to confirm the budget they shared verbally during our call and I shortly present the different contact options. When things are in writing, it is easier to refer back to them later as they are part of the defined playground. Moreover, sometimes the person that you initially began the negotiation with won’t be the person who signs the contract, so when things are written down, it keeps everyone aligned.

Looking forward, here are my two cents

Since joining LinkedIn as an account manager, I am on a constant learning journey. Mastering complex negotiations will take time but adding these best practices to my toolkit pushed me 2 kilometers further. Beyond those best practices, I highly recommend surrounding yourself with professionals who are happy to share their knowledge and expertise. The bottom line, find yourself a Jesse.

As someone who is always looking for an opportunity to meet new people and learn new lessons, this is the first time that I am sharing an ongoing, uncompleted project. Usually, a lesson is a defined period that I prefer talking about in the past tense, as something I have accomplished. However, when I reflect on my first year in Dublin, I find that the most important lessons are an ongoing journey with no foreseeable finish line. 

The first lesson: "Welcome to Yourself"

I lived in Israel my entire life; this is where I built my character which is how people got to know me and how I looked at myself. When I moved to Dublin, I challenged everything I knew about myself and started checking what works for me and what was a result of my surroundings’ perception and habits. In parallel to this self-developing process, I found myself crystallizing a few core values, framing vulnerability points, and meeting old demons that “chased” me all the way to Dublin. I realized that my greatest challenge is accepting that there are things I can’t run away from and the first action to take is accepting them. It doesn’t matter with whom I spend time, which language I speak or what the scenery is like, I take myself with me wherever I go, and that’s the starting point for all lessons.

Second lesson: Cultural Differences

Living in Dublin is great for many reasons, and one of my favorites is the multicultural environment. Almost every time I go out it sounds like a beginning of a joke: “an Israeli, Irish, German, Swede… walk into a pub”. The opportunity to meet people from different places in the world and be acquainted with new cultures and traditions is fascinating. However, sometimes this paradise feels like a double-edged sword, especially when things get lost in translation, or are misinterpreted. The outcome of these situations (after I stop cringing and apologizing), is to remind myself to pause for a second before I react and in general to think more thoroughly about what I say and how I say it. It can be exhausting but the greater lesson of “not being impulsive and watching my words”, is worth it.  

Third lesson: The Race is Long

Looking back, I feel as though I both moved to Dublin yesterday and have been here for a decade. On one hand, everything still seems new and exciting, and on the other hand, I realize that I have a basic knowledge of directions in the city (and whoever knows me knows that I get lost everywhere), I have my routine and started building a few deep friendships. As I love long-distance running, I feel like this is the longest and most meaningful race I’ve ever participated in: ongoing learning, both in the professional and the personal fields. The major difference from a “regular” race is that here there is no definite finish line, and the only judge of my progress is me. Like the quote from the great song “Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen”: “The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself”.

Looking forward, here are my two cents

I find it funny to summarize this blog as I feel I’m still in the middle of the lessons I just shared here. My two cents this time will be the advice Yotam, one of my best friends, shared with me before I relocated and was all excited and anxious: “like any other meaningful experience you have had in life, so will be this one: there will be good days and bad days, however, you will have a full life, and this is the most important thing to focus on”. 

Sales is well known for being a rollercoaster: on the good days, you feel like you are unstoppable and on the bad days you just want to get off the ride and go home ASAP.

After two extremely good quarters at work, I now find myself facing a challenging one. Whether it’s a coincidence or karma is involved, this quarter is taking place at the same time as I celebrate 1 year anniversary of the Kerry Way Ultra (KWU) race I ran last year in Kerry, Ireland. It was a 200 km race, which was the longest, most challenging, and most complicated race I have run. for some reason, I find myself trying to embrace the fear of not reaching my quarterly target with the lessons I have learned from the KWU race.

One of the most memorable parts for me at the KWU race occurred in the middle of the night, when I was after 110 km of running, 20 hours into the race. It was late, dark and I was deadly tired. At this point, I ran slowly with a few other people. It was hard to see the path and I felt like I am falling asleep while moving. Nothing helped: chocolate, drinking water, singing, talking, caffeine pills. Nothing. And then I encountered within me (for the first time in my life) this uncontrollable pain of feeling despair. A deep, excruciating feeling of despair. As if I am slowly dying and have no control of the situation.

I began thinking what will happen if I fall here, in the middle of nowhere? Will someone rescue me? Will I break my teeth? Will I go to the hospital? Am I going to die? As someone who usually tries to be positive, it was difficult for me to encounter despair and feel it so strongly. I felt completely helpless. This specific experience taught me three major life lessons that I have found very helpful for the past two (challenging) months:

Give difficult feelings their place

As someone who tried to ignore/run away from hard feelings, being in an extreme situation makes you face those feelings whether you like it or not. The fact that I could visualize what might happen if I fall asleep, that I would break my teeth and maybe will have to go to the hospital, put the situation in perspective. I felt completely helpless, but the feeling itself won’t kill me. Giving space for such fears won’t kill me.

I try to do the same thing now. Not reaching my targets will be painful, very painful, especially when I hate not succeeding and have always been willing to work hard for it. But it won’t kill me. There is always another quarter, and maybe I will be able to make up for this one next quarter?

Big fear, small steps

This is a lesson I learned from my first 100-mile race in Croatia back in 2017. The greater the fear, the more we lean into the 'fight or flight' mode and don’t or perhaps can’t think straight. During that awful dark night, where I hardly saw one meter ahead of me, I remember I looked at my steps and just counted them to make sure I move forward. One step at a time. Literally. It didn’t matter that I was behind in my plan, it didn’t matter that at this point I almost missed the cut-off time, it didn’t matter I had 90 more km to go, I focused only on my next step - one step at a time.

Same with this quarter. There are 19 days to go. One day at a time, one customer call at a time. It isn’t over until I see the finish line or someone from the managing team of the race pulls me out because I didn’t get to the cut off within the time limit.

Control the controllables

I think one of the greatest lessons I still learn and encounter on a daily basis is to understand what I can control and accept what I can’t. In an ultramarathon, there are so many things that can go wrong: the weather, muscle cramps, stomach aches, the terrain is not what I prepared for, bad weather… And all those come before the fact that we are talking about 100 and more kilometers by foot with no stops to rest or sleep.

During this quarter, I have faced a lot of challenges I don’t control: the economic situation, budget decline within customers, and a change of strategy. I have no control over any of those, so I try to focus on what I can control: what opportunities I can work on, how can I can build and strengthen my relationship with my customers and how I build a stronger pipeline for the future. It is difficult, but I find that it is the only way to keep moving forward and not become a victim of my own thoughts.

Looking forward, here are my two cents:

It took me an hour and a half longer than planned to reach the aid station during that nightly run portion of the race. When I got to my station, I realized that dawn is close and somehow the stress of missing the cut-off time gave me a second wing. Out of nowhere, I began running and pushing towards the next station to make sure I get there on time. It was a long struggle until the end of the race, but eventually, I made it within the cut-off time and got to the finish line after 39 hours and 15 minutes (the cut-off was 40 hours).

Only after the race was over, I realized I have never given this feeling a place because of all sorts of fears and it made me less whole as a person. Because if I can’t feel those deep hard feelings, I also don’t feel joy, happiness, and positivity.

So, what will end up happening with this quarter? Too soon to tell. But I keep running, one step at a time until I reach the target or the cut-off will pull me out.

Start with Why

When working for a big global corporation, it can be a challenge to connect to its core values. Many times, employees are not aware of the company’s values and as a result there is a potential disconnect from the vision and mission. What I loved about this Sales Kick-off (SK) was getting to focus on the fact that we are on a greater mission here than just “sell more and get richer.” My favourite quote was: ״when our customers win, we win.” When you focus on providing value to the customer as your main goal, you transform yourself from being a vendor to a partner. I first learned this approach as a business development manager when I worked in a consulting firm that specialized in interpersonal communication skills, and I am thrilled to see that a large corporation like LinkedIn is operating with this goal in mind. Attending an SK with 6500 other people and being reminded that our approach is “customer first”, connected the dots for me regarding the “why are we here.” Yes, we are in sales and being measured by a quota; however, if we truly help our customers, they gain more value and so do we: they win, we win

Meet new people and reconnect

The theme for this sales kick-off was “Reconnect.” After two years of Covid-19 restrictions where our lives were based on social distancing and building relationships solely remotely, we finally had the chance to meet people in person. Since I’m relatively new at LinkedIn, I transformed the “Reconnect” theme to “Strengthening” the relationships I have and “Meeting New People.” Despite the sheer size of this event, I found myself investing most of my time with my team and enjoying the different aspects of Las Vegas with them. However, I challenged myself to speak with at least three new people a day from different regions, lines of businesses, and roles, whether it was during the 5 minutes before a session began, breakfast time, or even in the elevator and hallways. I found it too hard to be in my regular socializing MO, so I chose a conservative yet effective method.

Know your limits

I’ve never attended a conference with 6500 people. This is a huge event and for someone who avoids crowded places this could have been a catastrophe. We were constantly warned to be responsible and take care of our friends, as ultimately everyone wants to have a good time, but no one wants to do anything stupid. The following quote by Mark Manson sums it up for me: “How do you know when to ‘push your limits’ and when to ‘know your limits’? Push your limits when extra effort produces more reward than cost. Know your limits when the extra effort produces more cost than reward.” Being away from home in Las Vegas, where everything is larger than life, can create a sensory overload. You tend to feel a crippling FOMO by not attending everything and being everywhere. I followed Manson’s quote and kept checking with myself: how do I feel, am I too tired and what are my limits. Looking back, I am sure I missed some of the parties and crazy fun in choosing to step back and know my limits, but I prefer cringing from FOMO than facing potential regret.

Looking forward here are my two cents

I am writing this blog while having a relaxing weekend with my family in California. I think that after a 60-hour “ultra-marathon” of socializing and partying, some quiet family time is exactly what I need to recharge my batteries and build excitement for next year. There’s a fine line between a great experience and an exhausting experience at a SK, so it’s important for you to know how to create balance between pushing your limits and knowing your limits.

When in doubt, ask a follow-up question

One of the things that frightened and excited me was the cultural differences you encounter when relocating to a new country. Being an Israeli has its advantages and disadvantages, and if I found myself having misunderstandings with friends and colleagues, it was usually due to cultural miscommunication. Reactions that back home make total sense can at times come across as insensitive or even rude. And, in parallel, different types of behavior that back home would be defined as obvious hints for disagreement or even rejection, can simply mean a misunderstanding or a subtle demand for more time. In the beginning, I was easily offended by the different reactions I received, but then I decided to change my approach from the “victim of circumstances newbie” to the “curious newbie” and embrace a humble state of mind. Since I don’t really know what goes on in other people’s minds, I can easily reach a conclusion—based only on my thoughts and emotions alone—that might lead to a conflict or being hurt for no reason. I realized that by asking follow-up questions, I am able to get rid of many potential barriers that result from a lack of communication. Yes, I still cringe and feel weird when I “don’t get it” on the first time and must ask for clarification. However, I found it much more useful in the long run as I can avoid assumptions that exist only in my head about what other people mean and make sure I understand exactly what they do, in fact mean...

Loneliness is a choice

More than a decade ago, while traveling by myself in South America, I was asked if I feel lonely. Since I was traveling on my own and had my own route, I kept meeting new people all the time and had to often say goodbye throughout the journey. My answer was that I always feel “15 minutes of loneliness” (borrowed from the magnificent book “100 Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez). Saying goodbye is difficult for me, so I always try to keep it light and easy with a cheerful “See ya later” and embrace the that I will feel lonely for a while until I find my next friend to travel with. Relocation is obviously different than a trip around the world, but the state of mind is similar. When you are open to meeting new people, even if some groups or friendships don’t work, it’s important to remember to let opportunities come and accept it when those opportunities leave. Furthermore, I keep reminding myself that building a social circle takes time, and that’s ok. Somehow, feeling like a stranger among other strangers creates a feeling of belonging.

Everything is personal

I heard many time that in the business world you need to have thick skin and remember that this is the b2b world and nothing is personal. I don’t accept that. If there is a value that I follow since my first step in the business world, and that has been even more true during the past six months, is that we are in a world of person to person, whether it is business or not. I was surprised and touched by people in my team and my organization who were willing to help me with questions I had, although they didn’t stand to gain anything from supporting me. Furthermore, when we were closer to the end of last quarter and a procurement manager worked extra hours to help me carry a deal to the finish line, I got to the conclusion that when you build strong relationships with people, whether they are your colleagues or your customers, they will probably go the extra mile for you.

Looking forward, here are my two cents

If anything, the last eight months have shown me that true, lasting relationships are the key to success and to great well-being. While socializing and taking in as many opportunities as we can to meet others might seem secondary to tasks that seem more urgent, it is these opportunities that create the possibility of being able to secure long-term success, but also long-term mental health. To create those relationships, you not only have to take advantage of opportunities when they come your way; you also need to ask questions at every turn and work on accepting that relationships can become dynamic, fast, and even temporary. But hey, that’s just after six (or eight) months… Talk to me in a year!

When I joined LinkedIn as a Relationship Manager, I had several concerns and fears going into this new role. But to be frank, my greatest fear was the quota. For years I avoided working in a quota-based role because of the fear of not achieving it. Since they are based on quantifiable metrics, with quotas it is very clear if you reach your target or not. On the one hand, it makes life much easier because you have the clarity of what is expected from you. On the other hand, you don’t have control over whether customers decide to change their strategy and churn, move to competitors, or whether they are experiencing budget issues. One way or another, from the beginning of the quarter I began running at a high speed and got to the finish line three weeks ahead of time. But, after ten minutes of satisfaction and happiness, I felt a complete void and sadness.

In this blog, I want to share with you three tactics that helped me overcome this weird phase. I realized that my feelings after finishing a race and hitting the quota were very similar. I expect myself to be happy, but I am mostly tired, anxious, and get a horribly anti-climactic feeling.

Acceptance is the key to happiness

I think accepting the way we feel is the core lesson I keep learning in different situations. Every race I participated in, I thought to myself: “this time it will be different” and as soon as the endorphins came down and I had a proper goodnight’s sleep, I felt a kind of weird sadness that I couldn’t explain. It took me years to accept this feeling and not try to solve/fight/change it. Through time I learned that it is pretty common among runners to have the “post-race-blues”. Funnily enough, in the past few weeks, I found out that I could have the very same blues in the business world. In the beginning, when this weird sadness began to rise I tried to fight it. I was angry at myself and couldn’t figure out what is wrong with me. It took me a few good days to practice deep breathing and try to accept that my emotional reaction to achievement is not what I would expect of myself. I try to keep my focus on being present with these uncomfortable feelings and wait for them to pass. To be honest, I haven’t found a better solution than breathing deep and waiting for those feelings to fade away. I am still learning how to embrace them when they arise. With races, I got used to them after going through the same anti-climactic feeling cycle every time. I guess now I will have to learn how to accept them in the business world as well.

Find Your Celebration

When I feel the blues, my initial act will be to take a step back from other people and go into my shell. However, I realized that spending time with a group of people can help forget those irritating thoughts. Also, I find it easier to celebrate something else and use that celebration to bring back good energy. It might sound a bit like a “Dali-Lama” mantra, but sometimes focusing on someone or something else that has nothing to do with us, can change the energies we have.

It doesn’t always have to be big parties and a lot of people. Sometimes, just spending time with a few friends and focusing on their stories helps me step away from the endless emotional cycles and overthinking I go through myself.

Luckily, I had the privilege to be in Dublin during Saint Patrick’s Day and to spend it with a group of new people from different places around the world that I probably would have never met if I hadn’t worked for LinkedIn. Hopping from one place to the other, socializing and talking about anything else but the “weird blues” I have helped me take a break and focus on happy energies. This works for me, but won’t necessarily work for you. The point here is to find your celebration and follow through with it. We are creatures of habit, and if we are in the habit of celebrating in a way that works for us, we’ll keep finding ways to celebrate, which in turn will help us deal with the spiral of thoughts we are going through.

Plan the next step

The greatest difference between ultra-marathon running and sales is that the next quarter is just around the corner, and you must start planning for it, so you don’t really have a lot of time to be in the blues. I remember my running coach shared with me his method for how to get over the post-race blues. He looks at races in triplets: You always anchor three races planned ahead and then when you are finished with one, you have another one in the pipeline. I could never do it because I needed more time to digest the race, all the emotions it evokes, and get some space to feel and embrace everything before registering for a new race. With sales, it is much easier: there is a quota ready to be achieved and the major question is focusing on the “How?” and less on the “What?”. By planning your next step you will be able to gain some perspective about what you are experiencing and realize that what you achieved is a chapter in your bigger story, and that you are on your way to your next chapter.

My two cents looking forward

If you are one of the lucky people who don’t have the “post-achieving-blues” – I am kind of envious of you. For those of you who can relate to the blues feeling I just shared with you, the only thing I can say is that it does eventually go away. It will go away faster if you understand that it’s normal, get in the habit of celebrating with others or with yourself and start planning your next quota. These are not magic solutions, but they’ve certainly proved to help me quite a bit.

My colleagues

One of the main reasons I joined LinkedIn was its company culture. Company culture can be a very tricky and fluffy term because it’s not always clear what it means, and when we talk about a global company with sites all over the world, we must expect major differences between different sites. Yet, whoever I spoke with before joining LinkedIn mentioned that the reason they joined was because of its company culture. And now, three months later, I can fully agree. Being new is challenging and overwhelming, and the fact that many of us work from home makes it that much harder to build relationships. Catching up over coffee, having lunch together, and spending time beyond work is hard to initiate as you want to do anything other than generate more “screen time” when you end a hectic day of Zoom meetings. You could feel trapped, since the main platform to meet your colleagues is through screens. However, when offering help or performing an act of kindness, whether or not you are on those platforms has little significance. I have the pleasure to connect on a daily basis with people who are willing to share their knowledge and experience regardless of their seniority, which team they belong to, or the amount of time it will take. Being an Israeli, it took me a while to let go of the alertness and suspiciousness towards goodwill and embrace that some people can be just nice and willing to help.

My team

The closer circle of people that make the difference is my closest team: “Sell-Aviv”. This team has an interesting mixture of backgrounds, ages, and career paths. When I just arrived in Dublin, we met for drinks and I felt like it was an opening line for a joke: “An Irish, Spanish, German, Norwegian, Swedish, and an Israeli met at a bar” – but it was literally a team dinner. Being in a team that has such a great mixture of people with different backgrounds has the potential of creating a cultural crisis. However, I feel that in my case, it created diversity that gives every person an opportunity to have their unique place and gives the other team members an opportunity to learn from them. One of the many examples that emphasized the power of a strong team for me was when we were invited to one of the team member’s parents’ house for the weekend. She grew up in a rural town in Ireland, and being invited to her home to meet her parents and actually work at their farm, was an outstanding experience for me that increases stickiness between team members and the feeling of belonging.

My friends who became my family

Building a life from scratch is challenging in many respects, and as an extremely social person, the challenge of building my closest circle was what I was most afraid of. Back in Israel, I have friends who long ago were upgraded to the level of family members, and I know that they are with me no matter where I am around the world. But at the same time, in order to feel at home in a new place, I knew I had to find people who could be my local family. Luckily, it took me one week to find my “sister from another mister”. Surprisingly, although we were both from Israel and had mutual friends, we have never met until we both relocated to Dublin. And on top of that, we are neighbours and both work for LinkedIn. Having someone close who shares the same background, speaks the same mother tongue, and understands your culture is priceless. I love working globally and meeting new people and new cultures, but I always feel at home when I speak Hebrew.

Looking forward here are my two cents

I know it might sound like I live in a fairy tale, but there are also challenging days when everything gets overwhelming and hard to comprehend. However, I feel over and over, that having the right people at the right time to speak with, brainstorm with, or just go out with, puts everything in a better perspective. I think that I was very lucky that I had to start from scratch because it made me rethink friendships, priorities, and what I would like my circles to look like. I believe that this is something that can be done at any stage in our lives, with or without relocation.

God is in the details

When I thought about relocating to Dublin, one of the major advantages I noted was the fact that it is an English-speaking country, and that Dublin is a hub for many cultures and languages. However, when I arrived, I realized that certain things are unique here, some of them are obvious, while others can only be noticed if you listen carefully. Among the “obvious” things is the fact that everybody drives on the lefthand side of the road. Everything is on the other side of what I am used to. On one hand, it’s refreshing. On the other hand, I was almost run over by a car several times because I didn’t look in the right direction. The solution I found most helpful was a piece of advice a friend and a colleague gave me: “You like Ralph Lauren, right? So remember: it is like Ralph Lauren: first you look right (R for Ralph) and then Left (L for Lauren). Among all the details that you won’t necessarily notice are phrases and expressions that are unique to Irish people. For example, they don’t ask “how are you?” but, “how’s things?”, you don’t answer: “I’m great/ok” but “I’m grand”. You do not use the elevator but the lift and you do not cover yourself at night with a blanket but a duvet. And of course, if you sit at a restaurant or a bar and ask for the check, they will give you a flurried look. You should ask for the bill!

Do more of what you love

I spoke with different people about their relocation journey and each one shared their own experience and challenges. One of the challenges that were mutual to all of them is the fact that you need to start from scratch: finding a place to live, finding new friends, map your new environment to find grocery stores, cafes, and restaurants. As soon as I got to Dublin, I started working extensively to find my new apartment. I knew that once I “anchor” my home, the rest will follow. Simultaneously, I contacted and met as many people as possible to build new social circles. I found that what helps me the most when I get overwhelmed is to focus on the things I like to do and do more of them: run outside whenever I can, meet with friends that became my local family, go to my local coffee shop for a morning coffee. Sometimes just focusing on doing what we know we like reduces the anxiousness and foreignness one can rightfully feel in the beginning, especially when relocating on your own.

Great things take time

Although Ultra marathon running is an integral part of my life, I tend to try and do everything in one day. In the past month, I felt like I am in a blender, and everything is shaking: what I thought was obvious, became questionable. For example: when do I run and what distance? Things that I thought would be complicated, like surviving the cold weather or finding a place to live, turned out to be easy to manage. I think this insight is a lifelong journey and I encounter it every time I try to rush things that need more time. I have to remind myself on a daily basis that relocation is a huge step and that I am still figuring out what works for me and what does not. There is something scary about redefining your identity in your late thirties, but at the same time I feel like I got a “second chance” to make a thorough introspection and hopefully turn into a better version of myself.

In the beginning, the Covid-19 crisis created massive unemployment, as many companies lost business and had to layoff many employees. Fast forward nearly 18 months later, the market is showing great recovery strides from the effects of Covid-19 on the economy and with that, many job opportunities. Aside from my day job, I mentor and coach people who are at a crossroads in their career and are looking for their next challenge. I help them do so in a calculated and informed way, to save themselves the frustration and time-consuming effects of the job hunt.

In the following blog I would like to share with you one of the most impressive and efficient recruiting processes I have ever seen. I found it to be the right mix between a thorough process and one which is respectful of the applicants time and effort.

First step: HR interview

This step is important because at this stage the candidate can get important high-level knowledge about the role and the company, including company values and culture. This is also a good place to discuss salary. Sometimes, the gap in expectations between the applicant and the company is so great that there is no point to continue with the recruiting process after this stage.

Second step: an interview with the direct supervisor

I find this stage as less of an interview and more of a 360-degree conversation. The common approach is that the candidate is the one who needs to persuade the interviewer that he/she are a “good enough fit” for the company. However, similarly, to building relationships with friends or with a partner, both sides need to work in order for the match to be successful. Hence, both sides should look for good chemistry. In the end of the day, we spend most of our time at work, so we should make sure we get along with our direct management. This means sharing the same values and setting expectations in advance as to the role and responsibilities. Moreover, this is the time to understand what your professional development journey as an employee in the company would look like: how does the manager see your development route and how he/she is willing to facilitate it.

Step three: home assignment and presentation

I often find that an assignment that is a part of an interview process is disrespectful, because it requires time and effort from the candidate, and the outcome can be a solution or material that the interviewing company may use. However, some assignments can also serve as a great opportunity for candidates, who may use assignments as a way to gauge whether or not the company’s culture and product are of interest to them. For example: (1) an assignment requires a large degree of prior knowledge in a specific professional area; (2) it involves a lot of analysis that the candidate has no background in; (3) it requires a sales pitch for a product or solution that the candidate has no connection to or understanding of whatsoever. These can serve as indicators for whether or not the position and the company are a good fit. By presenting the assignment and the interviewer’s follow-up questions, you can test the dynamics with your potential manager and how you approach challenges. Moreover, if you have challenges with interviewing (stress, too excited etc.) those assignments are an opportunity to show your strengths and high motivation to get the role.

Step four: Speaking with references from prior workplaces.

Usually, I don’t like requests to speak with former managers, because what happened in the past belongs in the past, and like the old saying goes: “people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses”. However, I think there is an important lesson here about life as a long journey and the importance of not burning bridges. It’s legitimate to leave a job, but keep in mind that you never know where or when you will meet your former boss: try to leave in a respectful manner and maintain a good, or at least a fair relationship with them if possible. It is much stronger and more convincing that a former boss recommends you to your next boss, even if you had professional disagreements. Furthermore, there are situations where you might receive a better opportunity that will advance your career and you would like your former employer to speak greatly about your contribution to the organization.

Step five: Employment terms

This is the final step and should be addressed very seriously. Many times, we are so eager to sign a contract that we miss important details, such as benefits we receive from the company. Many times, the basic salary might not be very high, but all the benefits are “money equivalents” that can change the entire scope of the offer.

Looking forward, here are my two cents

Millennials (the age group that I belong to) are well known as those who “jump” from one job to another. According to The 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey, 49% of Millennials would quit their job within the next two years. However, I think one of the major reasons for this phenomenon is a lack in professional development plans and opportunities for employees. I believe that managers who look at their employees as the company’s most important resource, and behave accordingly, will get more out of them, and increase retention. If an employee feels that they’re seen, develop and continue growing, they might very well prefer to stay at their current workplace for a longer period.

In my opinion, the professional development approach is a topic that should very well be presented during the first and second interview, otherwise, it may reflect a lot about the company’s culture and approach towards their employees. This also shows us that anyone looking for their next challenge should consider whether professional and personal development is important to them, and if so, make it a priority during their job search process.