I gently knocked on her window and asked if I could help. The window lowered. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Between sobs she told me she stopped to buy flowers for a sick friend. This friend was in the hospital and was all alone – she had no family in the area. She had been trying to get free for the last half hour, growing increasingly afraid that she would not be rescued and would miss the visiting hours in the hospital. She continued to cry. I took her hand and told her not to worry, that I would help her get on her way. She called me her hero – imagine.

To show her appreciation, she reached into her purse for a wallet and tried to give me some money. I refused but told her she had to do two things for me: first, once we start to get her car moving, she must keep going and not stop until she was back on clear roads. Second, that she had to be her friend’s hero. She promised to do both.

The way to get out of an ice rut is to rock the car back and forth. After four tries, and my pushing at the right moment, the car crested the rut and she was on her way. She waved through her open window and continued cautiously though the bumpy parking lot out onto a cleared street. I watched her drive away and never saw her again.

I think of this often, and other events like it. I didn’t plan on being someone’s hero – I know I just did what we were taught as kids – to always be there for others. Sometimes what seems to be the smallest thing can have an amazing impact on another’s life.

What have you done to be someone’s hero?

When called on to help, do you step up or step away?

Life requires us to be fully present. Sometimes we need help, sometimes we provide help. And in the process we realize we have a responsibility to and in this world. We invent our world in this very moment – and having a profound effect on someone else’s life – to be their hero – is one way we improve life for all of us.

Watch for my new book, The Greatness Zone – Know Yourself, Find Your Fit, Transform the World, due out October 1, 2010. Sign up to be notified when it is available and to be included in our Greatness events, activities and resources at www.TheGreatnessZone.com.

Here is why I mention this. I wrote the book to offer a process to help you know yourself, find your fit and transform your world. Another way to say that is to help you see the difference you make. It is presented as a story of two kids in college – and how they learn the five rules for a really great life. It presents this thinking:

Each of us has the ability and responsibility to invent our life. We are given amazing gifts – known as our talents and passions. We are all different; your gifts and mine are not the same. The reason for this is shared in the great quote, “we don’t get harmony when we all sing the same note.” We are all different to add to and invent an extraordinary world. When we know our talents and passions, we can bring our best to the world. But if you don’t know what you are great at and love to do, how will you share your best? Or, how will you make a difference?

So as I get the book ready to share this new approach, I ask you to start to consider what difference you make each day:
o Whose world is better because you are part of it today?
o What is one great thing you do that changes your life or someone else’s life for the better?
o What can you share today that will make someone happier?
o What can you share today that will make someone better?
o What did you learn about yourself today that reminds you of what a difference you make?
o What passions do you have that help us understand our world and connect better with others?
o What does the world need that you do well?

To make your greatest difference you must first know yourself. From your gifts, you can find where you have the greatest impact and what you can bring to the world. This is meant to be practical. Be yourself. Be great.

What difference can you make today?

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to learn more about the five rules for a really great life.

It is up to you to be sure a hiring manager knows these two things about you – because these are what drive his/her decisions. So let’s look at how you can ensure they know how you add value and what difference you will make, whether they ask or don’t ask.

First: If the hiring manager asks, be ready to share how you add value and make a difference with real examples, and that make sense for the job for which you are applying.
1. Know what matters in the job – so you can show how you can make it happen.
2. Know information about the company and how you will be able to add value and make a difference in the rest of the company.
3. Openly share your thoughts; don’t hold back.

Second: If the hiring manager does not ask about how you add value and make a difference, you need to bring it up – because you need them to know this about you.
1. Tell how what you do well will make a difference in the workplace. Start with something like, “Can I tell you how I think I can make a great difference here?”
2. Show how you created value in your last job. Again, say something like, “In my last job, I …..; this was very important for the company.”

So whether they ask you, or you have to bring it up, you have to ensure the hiring manager knows how you add value and how you make a difference. Share your story of the great things you do and have done. This is what gets you noticed for the right reasons. This is what gets you hired.

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it and be sure to see more “get hired” information at www.LiveFiredUp.com, click on “Job Seeker.”

What gets hiring managers’ attention is when they see that you want more than just to do the job. People who are committed to making a difference, approach their lives and their work with greater focus and effort; they are more committed and more energized. Hiring managers want this. At a time where most companies have to get more done with less, you stand out when you showcase how you make a difference.

Here are two tips:
1. In your correspondence including your cover letter and on your resume: Summarize the difference you made with customers, your team or the results in your last job or jobs. Give details. Don’t follow the old format of boring cover letter; use your first paragraph to draw attention to your ability to be counted on and make a difference – and how you have already done this. Highlight lines on your resume where you did more than the job required and the difference it made.

2. In your interview: Ask about the most significant difference others have made in the job. Offer some ways you can add to their impact. Explain the places in your work history in which you personally made a meaningful difference. Identify the places in your life that you continue to make a difference (with your family, church, community, organizations, etc).

Today’s hiring managers want those who know what extra effort is – and have exhibited it in their work and lives. Another way to say this is that hiring managers are looking for candidates who are committed to making a difference.

For sample talent-based interview questions and my list of the hot industries and hot jobs; click on “Job Seeker.”

Some employees make things happen. They are engaged, passionate and connected to their work and workplace. They come to work excited to make a difference and are competent and confident in their jobs.

Some employees watch things happen. They are sideline employees who do just enough and little more. They are uninspired and bored. Their performance is average. Their customers are unimpressed.

What creates one type of employee or the other? Management.

Today’s management is responsible to hire employees who are a good fit for their roles. Employees who do not have the talents and passions to do the job, are quickly bored, uninspired and disinterested. They become watchers.

But hire an employee whose talents and passions match those needed in the job and they are activated, interested and fired up! They love what they do. They make things happen. They make a difference. They make an impact.

Right person, right job = maker. Wrong person, wrong job = watcher. “Fit” matters.

Take Action: Learn how to assess talents and which drive performance in each role. Focus on employee “fit.” Great people become poor employees when they work in the wrong jobs. At a time when we have to do more with less, we need makers not watchers.

You were born with great talents and strengths; part of the role of life is to learn about yourself to determine and develop your natural gifts. Most people use so little of what they have been given.

Your life is as little or as big as you choose to make it. Do you want a life that gets you Fired Up! each morning, excited to start another day, grateful, excited and passionate? Do you want a life that makes a difference by using what you are great at to influence the world, other people and other perspectives? Do you want a life that is so great that you never think about dying because you are so busy living? Me too. That is what I want for life. And I know that if that is what I want then it is up to me to make it happen.

Most people are quick to point a finger at or blame others for the things they do not like about their lives. But here’s the fact. The buck stops with you about you. You want a different, exciting, passionate and more fired up life? Then what are you going to do to get it? How will you own your life?

Start now – what do you want your life to be? How will this use your talents and strengths? How will you start and progress on this journey? Own your life. You have the ability to make it EXTRAordinary.

Attracting, hiring and retaining high performing employees are the responsibility of today’s managers. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all jobs – of any employee will do in any job. Today, employees’ performance is based on their job fit. Today’s employees want to work in high performing cultures; they want to work in roles that match their talents, interests and values. They want a strong and professional relationship with their managers. And when this happens, they perform and stay. And today, you need the best performers.