Taylor Swift has a way with words. Sentiment, creativity, and imagery flow through her songs effortlessly as she relates to millions listening to her tunes. She weaves past scenarios to paint a picture, a lot like what we do as sourcers.
In true swiftie fashion, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to highlight three similarities between T. Swift and Sourcing, from strategizing ahead and visualizing possibilities, to knowing when it’s time to make a change.
Mastermind or undercover sourcer?
“What if I told you I’m a mastermind?” Swift sings in Mastermind. It’s no mystery that Taylor is always a few steps ahead, whether that is with releasing an easter egg or her next album, and she has experienced great success for it.
Traveling back to 2020, when things were chaotic and quite scary, Taylor released Folklore followed by Evermore, less than five months later. Swapping pop and upbeat tunes with thoughtful, indie folk melodies in a time when people were unsure what was going to happen and what our new normal looked like. These albums were exactly what we needed. As fans consumed her latest music, it evoked hope with songs like invisible string and the 1 featuring themes like serendipity, forgiveness and self-awareness.
In an article published by University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance, Associate Professor of Music Theory Drew Nobile shared with the author how Swift’s success with the release of evermore and folklore was not an accident as “Many of us were outside re-exploring nature’s beauty and then she drops these two albums that have a rustic sound and talk about rivers and trees. She’s always been able to tap into what we all crave.” No one else was doing this at that time and it is truly what set Taylor Swift apart.
As sourcers, we too are tapped into what is going on in the world, recruiting, and the industries we support. From gathering competitive intel to compiling lists of top talent, it is no coincidence when we reach out to a prospect. A lot of work has gone into the “before.” Like Taylor, sourcers strategically plan their next move like who we’re reaching out to, how a prospect’s experience aligns to our role, timing, and why our message matters.
A few helpful tips I use include stepping into the shoes of a prospect and thinking “why me, why now?”
In the wise words of Taylor Swift…
“What if I told you none of it was accidental
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?
I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line.”
Sourcing is deliberate and planned out, just like Taylor Swift is about her career, and this results in great success within time.
Words are the paint to our paint brush
Taylor’s songs evoke emotion in each line. Her lyrics paint a picture in the listener’s mind and you feel like you’re right there with her experiencing it all. Swift’s songs are relatable and catchy. While they hook you in, they have an added element of feeling understood by the artist and those in the community.
Sourcers are excellent story-tellers. While we research our roles and our prospects, we gain a deep understanding of potential needs and wants from our prospects. On screening calls and in outreach, we quickly pull from our abundance of knowledge to explain why this opportunity aligns with what the prospect is looking for. If an opportunity doesn’t align, which happens, we search our brain for potential future opportunities that we might be aware of and stay in touch. Not now doesn’t mean never.
As sourcers, we evaluate all that we know about a prospect and an opportunity. And, as storytellers, we paint a picture of hope and new beginnings.
Change is inevitable
As we witnessed in Taylor Swift’s career, change can be a good thing. Taylor has produced everything from country to indie folk and even re-released past albums.
Knowing when it is time to make a change is never easy. As sourcers, we can focus on our search and our roles, and it can be hard to come up for air and look around but when we do, it makes a world of a difference.
For example, when you’re hitting a wall on a search, change can look like many things, like clearing your search completely and starting fresh, or asking for a colleague’s set of eyes and implementing their suggestions.
With that said, sourcers are incredibly resilient and experience change daily. We are constantly pivoting our searches when given new role requirements or receiving feedback from hiring teams. We work on a variety of roles, and have a breadth of knowledge on a plethora of subjects.
Conclusion
Taylor Swift possesses similar traits to that of a sourcer. Her ability to weave stories together and paint a picture for her fans while strategically planning ahead is what truly sets her apart as a musician and reminds me of our sourcing community. As a master of change, Swift has produced music in a variety of genres like we source for a variety of roles and industries. The willingness to learn new styles and research topics is exactly what a sourcer would do. As you reflect on this article, I encourage you to think about your favorite artists. Who are they? What skills and traits do they possess? Do any of their traits remind you of those of a sourcer?
Share your thoughts with me on LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing all about it!