What Keeps You Up At Night?

It’s 4 in the morning. You’re lying in bed, wide awake. Why? What is on your mind that is causing you to have trouble falling asleep?

The answer to the “What keeps you up at night?” question is usually something bad—something so bad that it wakes you up and gets you so worked up that you can’t go back to sleep. However, what if this question wasn’t about something terrible but instead the opposite? What if it was about something that makes you so excited that you can’t wait to go to work?

My friend and successful entrepreneur Doug Schukar, chairman of USA Mortgage, has a brilliant hiring strategy. He believes there are two reasons to hire someone. First is if they are qualified and capable of doing the job. And second, if they are excited about their potential career. If they don’t have excitement and enthusiasm for the position—in the form of true passion—Schukar will not hire them.

I asked him to expand on this idea, and he was happy to share more.

Of course, he looks at a potential employee’s resume to make sure there is an essential fit for the responsibilities of the job, but he also looks at enthusiasm. And he does it by asking this question:

“Tell me about a time when you woke up in the middle of the night, not because you couldn’t sleep because of a problem or that you were so stressed out at work, but because you were so jazzed that you couldn’t wait to get up and get started.”

The answer can go 100 different ways, but what Schukar is looking for is passion. When you spot that passion and define it, and it aligns with the role the potential employee will be taking on, it can make for a better fit for the job and the company.

I’ve written about this idea numerous times and refer to it as the FUN model. It is featured in my book The Amazement Revolution. The best employees love what they do and wouldn’t consider leaving to work elsewhere. There are three reasons:

1. Fulfillment—The employee is in the right job. It’s what they want and what they are good at. They like where they work, they like the people they work with, they like their boss, and most importantly, they like the company’s culture.

2. Uniqueness—What is this employee exceptionally good at that most others in the company aren’t? Or does the employee have a capability that others might not have? Find this uniqueness and exploit it. Make it part of their job. This is the intersection between what an employee is passionate about and their role and the responsibilities of their job.

3. Next—What is next for the employee? Is it a possible promotion? Is it learning a new skill? Or do they just love their company so much (thanks to being fulfilled) that they can’t wait to return to work the next day (or next week, or next year)? This is what Schukar is looking for when he asks his question.

If the candidate can answer the What Keeps You Up at Night question about something they were excited about in a past job, that answer often aligns with what’s in the FUN model.

Hiring and retaining good employees and acquiring and maintaining customers go together. If you want a good customer experience, you must create a good employee experience. Hiring people with a passion for their job will typically result in them exhibiting a similar passion for the company and its customers.