The Permissionless Apprenticeship
Have you heard about the permissionless apprenticeship concept? Jack Butcher from Visualize Value shared this Tweet thread a bit ago and it perfectly describes the process which led me to hire one of my Brand Strategy Bootcamp students, not as an apprentice, but as a full on consultant and strategist for my own business as well as coach for the current Bootcamp:
This mindset of giving free value without an expectation of getting anything in return is exactly what Nick Ó did when he signed up for the beta version of my Brand Strategy Bootcamp last winter.
Nick came in and started giving value from day one. He paid me to be in the bootcamp, yet I felt that I should have been paying him. He led group Zoom calls after class for bootcampers who needed to chat through their roadblocks. He recorded videos for the group showing all the tools they could use in their strategy sessions. He was always present, always helpful, and was there to serve everyone including me. Generosity oozed out of every one of Nick's pores. I quickly realized that is just how he always operates.
When I was chatting individually with each of the bootcampers after the course ended, I had an overwhelming amount of them saying “I hope you hire Nick to help you with the public launch of the Bootcamp.”
He had not only been an immense help to me and the group, he won everyone’s heart.
You know that saying “people hire those they know, like, and trust?” Well, Nick ticked every one of those things to the point where I couldn’t think of doing the next Bootcamp without him.
I hope this encourages you to do something similar so that you too can land a gig doing something you enjoy with people you like. Give value freely. Be known for your generosity. Help others help their communities and you might just land something like Nick did. Like Jack said, “Worst case scenario you get some experience and add a ton of free value.”
It’s hard to forget the people who add value to our lives. And when the time comes to hire, they’re typically the first people that come to mind.
Who can you start giving value to? What community can you help? This is the road less traveled but the one that is rewarded the most.
Cheers!
Melinda
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