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70 How to Hire A-Players
said, ‘‘I am not hiring today unless your name is Jim Richards or
Sandra Jones.’’ These are not their actual names, but he did know
by name the people he wanted to hire that day, despite a companywide
hiring freeze. That is the kind of targeted approach that creates
an A-player team.
Don’t wait to cultivate these relationships. It is a long-term process
to move a big hitter from one organization to another. Once
you have people on your target list, find mutual contacts who can
help you to schedule a meeting. Who are your common friends?
Who can help to set up an introductory lunch? Even if the person
on your list is not actively looking for a new role, effective businesspeople
know that they have to take responsibility for their own careers.
The best employment situation in the world can change into a
nightmare through an acquisition, divestiture, or change in corporate
strategy. As a result, people typically are open to this kind of
meeting as long as it is discreet, low-key, and focused on building
relationships as opposed to making immediate commitments.
I have a friend who calls this kind of activity ‘‘threading the needle.’’
To recruit someone, you first get a relationship started, figuratively
passing the thread through the eye of the needle. As you get to know
people and understand their goals, challenges, hopes, and fears, you
work the needle down the thread. You develop a real relationship that
can turn into, among other things, an A-player hire. Can you name
one A-player with whom you are threading the needle today?
A-Player Principle: ‘‘Thread the needle’’ with A-players.
Lay the relational groundwork today that will help you recruit
your competitors’ best people tomorrow.
Don’t Make Up People’s Minds for Them
One of the ways that recruiting is like sales is that you never know
who will say yes—so you always have to give your prospects the
opportunity to buy. This is particularly true when it comes to hiring