Showing Up by Nino Mihilli

I've Learned Not to Underestimate the Person Who Simply Shows Up

What Eight Years in Staffing Taught Me About Reliability, Talent, Opportunity, and the People Who Surprise You

After eight years in staffing, I've met a lot of people.

Different backgrounds.

Different levels of experience.

Different personalities.

Different goals.

Some people walk through the door with impressive résumés.

Others don't have much on paper at all.

And if there's one thing I've learned, it's this:

Don't underestimate the person who simply keeps showing up.

Talent matters.

Experience matters.

Education matters.

But reliability is one of the most underrated advantages a person can have.

Showing Up Sounds Too Simple

There's nothing glamorous about being dependable.

Nobody puts:

"Arrived when I said I would."

on a highlight reel.

But run a business long enough and you'll understand how valuable that becomes.

The employee who arrives.

The person who answers the phone.

The person who follows through.

The person who doesn't need to be chased.

The person who tells you when there's a problem instead of disappearing.

The person who does what they said they were going to do.

Those people make organizations work.

It sounds basic.

It isn't.

Staffing Makes Reliability Visible

At Flat Staffing, we're often helping customers because they need people now.

A warehouse needs workers.

An operation has an unexpected shortage.

Someone called off.

Volume increased.

A customer has a deadline.

The schedule changed.

In those situations, reliability isn't some abstract character trait.

It's operational.

If twenty people are scheduled and only fifteen arrive, those five missing people affect everyone.

The customer.

The supervisor.

The other workers.

Our staff.

The operation.

That's why years in staffing have changed how I think about talent.

The most talented person in the world isn't very useful if nobody knows whether they're going to show up.

I've Seen People With Very Little on Paper Become Valuable

A résumé tells you something.

It doesn't tell you everything.

It can tell you where someone worked.

Their education.

Skills.

Job titles.

Experience.

But it doesn't tell you whether they'll arrive ten minutes early.

It doesn't tell you whether they'll help the person next to them.

It doesn't tell you how they respond when something goes wrong.

It doesn't tell you whether they'll learn.

It doesn't tell you whether they'll take responsibility.

And it definitely doesn't tell you someone's potential.

That's why I've become careful about judging people too quickly.

Sometimes the person who doesn't initially look impressive becomes the person everyone depends on.

Life Doesn't Always Produce a Perfect Résumé

Working in staffing also teaches you something about people's lives.

They're messy.

Someone may have a gap in employment.

Someone may have changed industries several times.

Someone may have been taking care of family.

Someone may be rebuilding after making mistakes.

Someone may have moved.

Someone may not have had the same opportunities as somebody else.

Someone may simply be trying to figure out what they're good at.

None of that automatically tells me what kind of employee they can become.

I believe standards matter.

But I also believe people deserve the opportunity to show you who they are today instead of being permanently defined by yesterday.

Temporary Work Can Be a Bridge

The word "temporary" can make a job sound insignificant.

I don't see it that way.

Temporary work can be a bridge.

A bridge between jobs.

A bridge into a new industry.

A bridge through a difficult financial period.

A bridge to permanent employment.

A bridge back into the workforce.

Sometimes people just need someone to give them an opportunity to get moving again.

That's one of the things I've always appreciated about staffing.

We aren't only filling shifts.

At our best, we're creating connections between someone who needs help and someone who needs an opportunity.

The First Opportunity Matters

People love telling success stories from the finish line.

They talk about the executive.

The entrepreneur.

The successful professional.

The person who built something impressive.

But somewhere in almost every story was a first opportunity.

Someone said:

"We'll give you a chance."

Maybe the job wasn't glamorous.

Maybe the pay wasn't extraordinary.

Maybe the person didn't even know where it would lead.

But somebody opened a door.

I've benefited from people opening doors for me throughout my life.

I don't want to forget how powerful that can be for someone else.

Reliability Creates More Opportunities

Here's what I've watched happen repeatedly in business.

Someone gets an opportunity.

They show up.

They do the work.

They show up again.

They learn.

They become useful.

Someone notices.

Then another opportunity appears.

More responsibility.

More hours.

A better position.

A recommendation.

A connection.

A promotion.

It doesn't happen every time or happen overnight.

But consistency has a way of creating opportunities that weren't visible at the beginning.

That's compounding in another form.

Talent Without Discipline Has a Ceiling

I've met extremely talented people who couldn't get out of their own way.

And I've met people who weren't initially the most talented but kept improving.

If I had to bet on one over a long period of time, I'm paying close attention to the second person.

Because talent gives you a head start.

Discipline determines what you do with it.

Someone who is willing to learn, accept correction, keep improving, and consistently show up can become extremely valuable.

You don't have to be the best person in the room on day one.

But you should try to be better on day one hundred.

Employers Need to Look in the Mirror Too

Reliability isn't only an employee responsibility.

Businesses need to be reliable too.

If you tell someone their schedule, honor it when possible.

If you promise a certain wage, pay it.

If someone does good work, recognize it.

If expectations change, communicate.

If there's a problem, address it.

If you make a mistake, own it.

I've made enough mistakes as an employer to understand that it's unfair to demand reliability from employees while running an organization that creates unnecessary chaos.

Standards should go both directions.

A Bad Environment Can Make a Good Person Look Bad

This took me time to understand.

Sometimes the person isn't the entire problem.

Sometimes the environment is.

Put someone in a poorly managed situation with unclear expectations, inconsistent communication, no training, and bad leadership, and then act surprised when performance suffers.

That doesn't remove personal accountability.

Employees still have responsibilities.

But leaders should ask:

Are we creating an environment where good people can succeed?

That's a much harder question than simply blaming the employee.

It's also a much more useful one.

Don't Confuse Compassion With Lower Standards

This is an important distinction for me.

Understanding someone's circumstances doesn't mean standards disappear.

If you have a job, people depend on you.

You need to show up.

Communicate.

Do the work.

Treat people properly.

Take responsibility.

Compassion and accountability can exist at the same time.

In fact, I think good leadership requires both.

You can understand that someone is going through something difficult while still being clear about what the job requires.

Respect works both ways.

People Will Surprise You

One of my favorite things about business is watching someone exceed expectations.

Maybe they were quiet when they started.

Maybe their résumé wasn't impressive.

Maybe they needed extra training.

Maybe they were nervous.

Then something happens.

They find confidence.

They learn.

They become dependable.

They begin helping other people.

Eventually, you can't imagine the operation without them.

That's why I try not to decide someone's ceiling too early.

People grow.

Sometimes all they needed was an environment where somebody expected something from them and believed they could deliver it.

Faith Reminds Me Not to Judge the Outside

There's a passage in 1 Samuel 16:7 that says:

"People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

That's a powerful reminder for me.

Business requires judgment.

Hiring requires judgment.

Leadership requires judgment.

We can't pretend otherwise.

But we should also have enough humility to understand how little we know about another person's full story.

A résumé isn't a heart.

A job title isn't character.

A first impression isn't destiny.

Sometimes you have to give people enough time to reveal who they are.

Showing Up Matters Outside of Work Too

The older I get, the more I realize this principle applies almost everywhere.

Marriage.

Parenting.

Friendship.

Faith.

Health.

Business.

Writing.

Building something.

A lot of life is showing up when nothing exciting is happening.

Being there.

Doing what needs to be done.

Again.

And again.

And again.

People naturally notice extraordinary moments.

But extraordinary lives are usually built from thousands of ordinary days handled well.

I Think About This in My Own Life

I'm not always the smartest person in the room.

I don't know everything.

I've entered industries I had to learn.

I've built things that required me to become a beginner again.

Writing The Variable certainly did that.

Technology continues to do it.

AI does it almost every week because the field keeps moving.

I can't always control how naturally something comes to me.

I can control whether I keep showing up to learn it.

That's an advantage available to almost everyone.

Final Thoughts

Eight years in staffing have taught me a lot about people.

Some lessons were difficult.

Some were expensive.

Some surprised me.

But one of the simplest has stayed with me:

Never underestimate someone who consistently shows up.

Give me the person who is willing to learn.

Give me the person who communicates.

Give me the person who takes responsibility.

Give me the person who gets a little better.

Give me the person whose word means something.

Talent can open a door.

A great résumé can get attention.

Experience can give you an advantage.

But reliability builds trust.

And trust creates opportunities.

So if you're early in your career, starting over, changing industries, working a temporary job, or wondering whether anyone notices what you're doing, remember this:

You don't have to have everything figured out today.

You don't have to be the most impressive person in the room.

Show up.

Learn.

Keep your word.

Get better.

Then do it again tomorrow.

You might be surprised how far something that simple can take you.

— Nino Mihilli

Stay Connected with Nino Mihilli

🌐 Personal Website: https://www.ninomihilli.com

🏢 T47 Group: https://www.t47group.com

👷 Flat Staffing: https://www.flatstaffing.com

📖 Read Nino Mihilli's novel, The Variable, on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX3783RG

Follow Nino Mihilli on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube, Medium, and Substack for more on entrepreneurship, staffing, leadership, artificial intelligence, faith, writing, and what I'm learning from the people I meet while building businesses.