Last week, the Industry Radar offered an article on "What Tim Russert Taught Me About Dealing With People In The Workplace..." - it's a must read for anyone working with people. To summarize, here are the key lessons:

Don't interject your opinion into the conversation unless it's relevant.

Put everyone at ease with some stage banter.

You can be an "A" player without being a jerk.

At the end of the day, you're judged not by the number of carcasses you dragged in, but the fact you were good at what you did, and most importantly - if you were a good person - how you conducted yourself daily.

Allow me to interpret these as they relate to recruiting...

Don't interject your opinion into the conversation unless it's relevant. "I have the perfect person for your open req." Really? Amazing - since you haven't spoken to anyone here or have the foggiest notion of the specific problems to be solved by the folks we're going to hire. Recruiters should learn to become consultants rather than overt flesh peddlars. If you want to be a pimp, go into politics.

Put everyone at ease with some stage banter. If I had a gallon of gas for every time a recruiter has called me and immediately launched into a no-breath sales pitch about how no one in the galaxy recruits as well as they do, blah, blah, blah or how the corporate side recruiter immediately begins the assessment process upon sitting down with a potential future employee, then I'd have enough to give away to all my ERE friends. When did "building a relationship" become such a rare commodity in recruiting?

You can be an "A" player without being a jerk. Having been part of the ERE community since its inception, I'm increasingly dismayed by the number of participants who use other members as dart boards; I can only assume that these recruiters are equally boorish with candidates and clients. What ever happened to just being nice and helpful? In the end, everyone appreciates those who can both perform at a high level and do it in a way where everyone they touch believes that they're receiving special attention.

At the end of the day, you're judged not by the number of carcasses you dragged in, but the fact you were good at what you did, and most importantly - if you were a good person - how you conducted yourself daily. This is where many agency managers are disserving their neophyte recruiters - teaching cut throat over customer relationship management and corporate recruiting leaders are stressing metrics at all costs. How about teaching recruiters that a placement or hire without a solid relationship behind it a sure fire way to over-fishing a swimming hole? What if all recruiters practiced using their ears and mouths proportionally? Do you know anything about your candidates or clients outside of the position they hold? Do you know when they celebrate their birthdays? On and on, the questions that make the most difference to the very best recruiters are those that are personal in nature and not information that can be gleaned from a job posting or a resume.

Next week: The Recruiting Secrets of George Carlin - or Why Dead People are Great Role Models for Recruiters...