Here’s how it went down…
Him….“Barbara, I think you are amazing. I could hire you right now, but I am missing a word. One word. If you can give me that one word, we can close this deal right now.”
Me…”Sorry, Joe, I have no clue what word you are looking for, so you might as well tell me.”
Him….”MONEY! I need to know that money is THE THING that motivates you.”
I stood up from my chair, in my very first navy blue suit, in my very first round of on-campus interviews, and shook the man’s hand across from me.
Me….”Thanks, Joe. I appreciate your time. But money is not THE THING that motivates me. It was great to meet you.” And I walked out of the interview while his mouth was still hanging open.
On-campus Interview
Joe worked for an international wine company. He wanted to hire me, and I wanted his company’s logo on my resume. But I walked out anyway.
I only remembered this experience decades later. When I think back on it, it still shocks me. I’m the passive one, the risk avoider, the one who goes along with everything and everyone. So what, in that one moment, gave me the guts to stand up and walk out on a potentially well-paying job with a great company? I still have no clue, but I am grateful.
Money + People
I really do love money. There is no experience like depositing a big check into your account. But that moment of joy includes a lot more than the cash. Cash comes in various flavors, and I am particularly in love with the flavor you get when you serve a company or client and they are really, really happy with what you did. I also love paying someone who served me brilliantly. (shout out to @lianeagbi and her website magic!)
Even though I walked out on that interview, I still went through my career thinking I might have a fatal flaw in not being driven toward the bottom line at all costs. I worked with plenty of people who appeared to be. But I realize now that money was not a problem; it was just too limiting in its definition. If a win includes money and people, yay! But if it is an either/or, I’m not interested.
We have enough brilliant people on our planet to figure out how companies make money, serve their employees, and have everybody win. I think if we haven’t figured that out yet, we need to get to work.
