Matt Kaufman, an executive search consultant at the Mullings Group, says the two most critical skills in his field are mastering how to be interviewed and how to interview others, yet most people lack training in both. He credits Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule as key to extraordinary success and lives by his mantra: "fountain or drain," the choice to positively or negatively influence situations.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Matt Kaufman with us. He's a 20-year executive search consultant working with the Mullings Group, which is a medical device executive search firm. So welcome to the show, Matt.
Thanks for having me.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Matt, is is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So, I received my doctorate 3 years ago, and I was the first person in the history of Nova Southeastern University to have to defend his dissertation. They changed the policy right when it was my turn to finish. So after 7 years, I had to prepare something that I had no idea was coming. I think there were 15 people in the room, all deans and heads of departments, because they wanted to see it for the first time. And I could have taken it as a "woe is me" kind of situation where I'm like, why do I have to be first? I was done. For years I'm working on this. I should just be able to turn it in like everybody else and move on with my life. But instead, I saw it as an adventure and a chance to be the first person. So I prepared. I researched it to no end to find out how best to defend and I set the tone for the rest of the people going forward. And just the lesson I took away from it was, you know, you have a choice. You can see things as an opportunity or as a negative, and I jumped all over it, and it stays as one of the best memories I've ever had. I still think about that hour of sitting in front of all those people and defending all the things I had researched for years.
Hmm. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
The two most important pieces in our world is learn how to be interviewed and learn how to interview someone else. So much of getting a job is being able to consistently convey what it is that you do. You'd be surprised how hard that is for someone to articulate what it is they do over the years. The only thing harder than that is being able to hire somebody by asking them the right questions that elicits a response that solves the problem that you're hiring the person for. For. And most people are not trained on either, and that's why most people have such a difficult time finding a job, and most people have the most difficult time hiring the right person.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
I always say that if you want someone to be candid and trust you, you have to share something first. You have to open up and be personal early, and that person will then turn around and share something with you. But if you wait for them, you're not going to get the answers that you want.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
You can only get by on charm and innate intelligence for so long. You have to evolve and study and learn and notice when the climate is changing in your business and things are going in different directions and you are not. So I would just tell my younger self, don't rest on your laurels. Just because you got by well early in your life does not mean you're gonna get by well later in your life.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
You have to like yourself first. The only way to have a good relationship with anyone else is to have a good relationship internally. And then once you have that, making friends, getting married, having a family and children and being successful at work with clients and workmates, it all stems from liking yourself.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
It's a hard one for me. I'm a voracious reader, but Outliers is the one that sticks with me the most from Malcolm Gladwell. And the reason why I believe that resonated with me the most is you got to see why the people who are unbelievably successful what the reason is behind that. It wasn't luck, no one gave it to them, it was the 10,000 hours.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I'm not sure if I made it up myself or if I heard it from someone else, but I always say fountain or drain. And basically what that means is that I control how I impact a situation. If I want to react positively to it and bring people up, I can. If I want to react negatively and bring people down, I can. It's up to me.
Perfect, man. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
LinkedIn. There's a ton of content of articles that I've written and my company has produced. Just find us there. It's either Matt Kaufman or The Mullings Group.
Perfect. Thanks again for coming on, man. We appreciate it.
I appreciate you.
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