Sarah, the waitress, was torn between a wife whose husband had been served a meal while she waited as her food arrived cold forty-five minutes later. The wife did not want to pay while Sarah’s manager insisted that a meal had been served and the customer would be charged. The question posed to you the reader was what Sarah should do.

There was a tremendous response from you, the readers! Reactions and suggestions included:

“Give them discount coupons and ask them to come back again.”

“Ask the manager to speak to the customers and explain the restaurant’s stupid position.”
(There were many variations on the “Have them talk to her manager” theme.)

“Charge them for the husband’s meal.”

There were also some editorial comments:

“Her boss is a bonehead and is never going to make it in the restaurant business with an attitude like that.”

“Sarah should look for another job.”

“The manager should be fired.”

And my personal favorite:

“The lady should get a new husband, the inconsiderate bastard.”

A few of you guessed what Sarah did:
She went to the couple, apologized, and told them the meal would be taken care of and they would not have to pay.
She then went to her manager and told him that she had paid for the meal out of her own pocket.

Sarah was able to avoid being insubordinate and also able to avoid having the customer cause a scene.

Lest you think Sarah was not concerned about her own needs, she left that job shortly after the incident.
PS: The restaurant is no longer in business.

So what’s to be learned from this story?
We are all in the personal-attention and quick-response business with our customers and clients. No matter what we sell,
at the end of the day, that’s what we have to deliver.

I would suggest that the more “Sarah’s” you have in your company, the better you will be able to respond to your
customer/client needs. Company rules and policies for dealing with clients are necessary.
Unfortunately, rules are often black and white and life is gray.

Ask yourself this question:
“How much leeway do I give my employees to use their best judgment when dealing with a customer?”

You hire employees for their brains. Make sure you let them use those brains.

I asked “Sarah” to tell me a story that would show how she had dealt with a difficult customer.
Here is her story:
Sarah was working as a waitress in a family-owned Italian restaurant. The chef decided to feature a Friday evening steak special.
A husband and wife were seated at one of her tables. The husband ordered spaghetti and meatballs and the wife ordered the steak special. The husband’s meal arrived soon after it was ordered. He began eating while the wife waited for her steak.

When the wife’s order finally did arrive –forty-five minutes later- it was cold. The woman began to cry. Her husband, she noted, had finished his meal while she sat waiting for her food. When it was served, it was cold. Now her evening was ruined. She told Sarah she was not about to pay for the meal.

Sarah apologized and told the woman she understood why she didn’t want to pay. She asked the couple to excuse her for a few minutes. She found her manger and explained what had happened. The manager was a young man in his early twenties approximately Sarah’s age. He listened to her story and explained that the woman must pay for her meal. While the steak had arrived after some delay she had in fact gotten the meal she ordered.

Sarah was in a bind. If she insisted the wife pay, she risked both a scene and a terribly unhappy customer. If she told the woman she did not have to pay she was being insubordinate and could possibly lose her job.

IF YOU WERE SARAH WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Willie Mays, the great former San Francisco Giant outfielder, wearing a New York Mets uniform as he stumbles past third base attempting to score.

Johnny Unitas, the famed Baltimore Colts quarterback, ending his career as a backup quarterback for the San Diego Chargers.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the last fight of his illustrious career losing a unanimous decision to the unheralded Trevor Berbick.

Each one seemed unable to face the fact that they were past their prime and unable to perform. Despite that, they continued to attempt to ply their trade.

What about you? Do you have any employees that are past their prime unable to perform at the level needed by those around them?

If so, understanding the issues and having some ways to approach those issues could be quite useful.

The Root of the Problem

In dealing with owners and managers who face this dilemma, I often find three variables are in play.

First, the person in question has often been working in the organization for a long time—20- to 30-year tenures are not uncommon.

Second, the employee at one time was very important to the organization and in the past might have made significant contributions.

Third, the manger or owner truly cares about this employee and is very sensitive about taking any actions that will upset the person.

These three factors often cause an owner or manager to feel a great sense of responsibility for the welfare of that worker.

Adding to the quandary is concern that this aging employee may never be able to find another job that pays anything close to their current salary.

This combination of loyalty and guilt is at the root of the problem. And it can become quite a problem.

What Happens Next

Faced with an employee who is unable or unwilling to perform, the manager suddenly finds himself or herself dealing with a very sensitive issue. To make sure the work gets done, the manager or owner will often bring in another employee to “help” or hire someone from the outside with the necessary skills. Sometimes this is done under the guise of redefining people’s job descriptions. Sometimes the cover story is that the jobs are too big and another pair of hands is needed to do the work.

Regardless of the story, the affected person quickly sees through it. Fearing they are being “put out to pasture,” they fight back. Some become secretive and attempt to withhold information. Others become argumentative and even belligerent accusing management of undermining them. They will insist the new people ”don’t understand how things are done; that they lack the skills necessary to handle the job.”

The poor employee who has been brought in because they truly have the skills needed to do the job often is embarrassed or uncomfortable.

The manager, unwilling to tell the truth for fear of hurting the veteran worker, says nothing, makes excuses, or simply deflects the conversation. These actions simply allow the problem to fester.

What Needs to Happen

Next time you walk into a dense forest look around. You’ll notice trees in three stages of growth—the mature healthy trees, the young saplings and the dead or dying trees.

The dead or dying trees have had a good life but they have to give way to make room for the young and mature trees. As they deteriorate, they continue to make a contribution enriching the soil for the inhabitants of the forest.

The same thing that happens in the forest must also happen in your workplace with your aging employees—these once “mighty oak trees” whose time has passed. There may be opportunities to help them transition and still add value. If there is a genuine way you can continue to use the person’s talents, let them know. It may be in a mentoring role, it may be part time working on projects. If you would like to propose such an arrangement, feel free.

If, however, there is no way to make use of the person’s skills, another conversation will need to take place. It has to be respectful and you have to be sensitive, but the health of your organization will depend on your willingness to tackle this issue. Explain the need to give others an opportunity just as the employee was once given an opportunity. Create a time frame for the employee’s departure and stick to it.

Everything ends.

Careers like people go through life cycles.

Honoring the contribution the person has made is important but making sure the path is open for other people to make their mark is equally important.

Handling the matter in a sensitive way allows former employees to move on with their lives and allows the organization the opportunity to move forward.

It’s one of the supercharged words of the culture.

We love it, loath it, chase it, save it, spend it, and give it away.

It is one of the defining variables in a culture where self worth is often tied to net worth.

For many, the subject of money is full of mysteries and contradictions.

Read on and see if some of these contradictions sound familiar.

The more you hoard it, the poorer you will feel.

Hoarding money puts the focus on what you don’t have and contributes to a scarcity mentality. What we focus on we manifest in our lives. Hoarding contributes to a feeling of being without and can cause you to feel “poor” no matter how many zeros you accumulate in your bank account.

The more you give it away, the richer you will feel.

Just as hoarding leads to a feeling of scarcity, sharing leads to a feeling of abundance. The very fact that we have money to give away causes us to feel we have “more than enough.” Just as we manifest feelings of scarcity when we hoard, giving money away causes us to experience feelings of abundance and gratitude.

People are constantly worried they won’t have enough even though most of them earn more of it every week.

There are non-renewable and renewable resources.

Time is a nonrenewable and limited resource. If you waste your time today, you cannot get that time back. It is gone forever.

Money, on the other hand, is a renewable resource.

If you foolishly spend all the money in your wallet today, you can make back all that money and more.

It’s impressive that we can make such a renewable resource seem so scarce.

For most people, there is no right amount. Everyone wants more and nobody seems to think they have too much.

Do you have too much money? If you did, how would you know? Is your goal to become wealthy? If you were wealthy what would that look like?

The feeling of wealth is most likely the relationship between what you have versus what you want. If you think of wants and needs in the same way, you will never have enough resources to satisfy your “needs” because “wants” are insatiable. We all want more of something—more time, more patience, more wisdom, and – yes – more money.

The thought of money whets your appetite, but the realization of it never satisfies that appetite.

People don’t “want what they want.” They don’t even want what their wants will give them. They want what they think their wants will give them. While the thought of more money or greater assets sounds appealing, that’s not what you really want. Perhaps you think money will make you feel secure. Perhaps you hope it will give you peace of mind or certainty or significance. If you have those expectations of money, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.

Money gives you a certain amount of comfort and money gives you choices.

And that’s about it.

It is said money is not the worth of a man but it is the only thing we consciously plan to pass on to our loved ones.

When was the last time you heard a reading of a will that began: “I hereby bequeath the following values to my children…”?

We have trusts and tax strategies and financial advisors and accountants—all in an attempt to protect our money so that we can keep as much as possible while we’re here and leave as much as possible to our descendants when we’re gone.

What we don’t have is a systematic plan to make sure our loved ones “inherit” our most cherished beliefs.

Perhaps we should invest just as much time and energy protecting and passing on our values, beliefs, and legacies as we do making sure our money is held in safekeeping and passed on to future generations.

We certainly can’t live without money, and some of us have a hard time living with it. Thinking about your responses to some of these contradictions might help you gain a better handle on the relationship you want to have with the money in your life.

Someone once said to me, “I’ll never understand human beings. I haven’t seen enough samples.” I haven’t seen enough samples either but I do know people are not that different. A day seldom goes by where I do not see the behaviors outlined in the three rules. Learn the rules. They might make understanding the motives of others a lot easier.

1. Concentrate on what you want to happen as opposed to what you don’t want to happen.

2. When worry begins, focus on past successes and exceptions to your concerns.

3. When you have the urge to complain, don’t speak. Instead, think of something positive.

4. Don’t commiserate with negative people. Talk positively, change the subject or just walk away.

5. Practice correction over criticism.

6. Learn “to argue with yourself.” Challenge your negative thoughts. Demand objective proof. Avoid dire thoughts and worst-case scenarios. Realize the problem is temporary, limited and external.

7. Give equal time to the upside of a bad situation. Look for the silver lining in the dark clouds.

8. Stay hopeful. Hope allows you to stay in touch with possibilities, answers and solutions instead of limitations and problems.

9. Stay focused on:
* What you can do rather than what you can’t do.
* What you control rather than what you can’t control.
* What’s working rather than what’s not working.
* Possibilities rather than limitations.

10. Learn to appreciate the positive aspects of negative thinkers. Pessimists:
* Help us see things more accurately.
* Increase our perception of danger.
* Cause us to weigh the downside more carefully.
* Better remember negative feedback.

11. Practice gratitude. It requires you to focus on the good things that are happening.

12. Practice forgiveness. It frees your mind of negative thoughts.

13. Play to your strengths. Focusing on your strengths and experiencing the success that comes with doing something well keeps you in the moment and makes it virtually impossible to feel negative and pessimistic.

14. The part of the brain that controls our emotions also controls our facial muscles. Changing the way you move can snap you out of a negative state. No matter how negative you feel, act positive. Your brain cannot tell the difference.

Learning to think in an optimistic/positive way is a behavior that can be learned. It takes a commitment to change and requires practice so that it becomes a habit. The rewards of a happier and more fulfilling life are well worth the effort.

1. Optimists get paid more, are healthier, happier, live longer, and are better at dealing with uncertainty and change.

2. Optimism is a skill that can be learned and developed.

3. We are more effective if we focus on not being negative rather than trying to be positive. The goal is more to reduce pessimism than to increase optimism. Optimism is not so much about the power of positive thinking as it is the power of non-negative thinking.

4. Optimists and pessimists are not two points on a continuum they are separate and distinct ways of focusing.

5. Researches guess that about 25% of your optimism traits are programmed into your DNA. Early upbringing and the effects of life’s ups and downs shape the rest.

6. Children are an especially optimistic group.

7. Females are more optimistic and more pessimistic than males because they tend to have a greater emotional range.

8. Optimism ebbs and flows during the day and can also be affected by fatigue and illness.

9. The secret of staying optimistic is in how we explain positive and negative situations to ourselves. We all have a voice only we hear that tells us how to interpret what is happening around us. The optimistic voice affirms us and predicts good outcomes. The pessimistic voice criticizes us and warns of trouble ahead.

10. By the time we’re around eight years old the ways we interpret our world become habit.

11. Researchers have identified key aspects of the optimistic mindset that allows an optimistic person to maintain a sense of control:
* They see problems as temporary
* They externalize problems (When troubles occur, optimists protect their self worth by looking for all the factors that contributed to the situation rather than simply beating themselves up)
* The look at difficulties as being limited and avoid generalizing or exaggerating
* When good events happen, they find internal reasons for their success—they were prepared, they were focused, they were confident, etc.
* They believe success breeds success.

12. The key aspects of the pessimistic mindset:
* They accuse themselves of being the root cause of their problems
* They see bad events as permanent
* They exaggerate the extent of the damage a problem will cause
* They deny credit when good fortune occurs
* Successes are viewed as temporary with little long-term effects
* They practice using the “c-words”- complaining, commiserating, criticizing, and “catastrophizing.”

13. Approximately 70% of our negative thoughts occur without us consciously perceiving them as negative. We need to pay attention to our thoughts and remember the most effective way to deal with negative thoughts is by not letting them take a foothold in the first place.

14. Being able to reframe an experience in order to see the good in a bad situation is a powerful trait of the optimistic mind.

15. Hope is essential to the optimistic mind. In a hopeful state we see possibilities and solutions rather than limitations and problems. If you doubt the importance of hope, all you need do is think about how you feel when it slips away and you find yourself in a state of hopelessness.

16. Gratitude and forgiveness are two other states that are important to maintaining an optimistic mind. As previously stated, the best way to build optimism is by eliminating negative thinking. Gratitude allows us to focus on what is positive in the present and forgiveness allows us to have a hopeful future.

17. Focusing on our strengths also helps promote optimism. When we feel competent and confident, it is virtually impossible to have pessimistic thoughts.

There’s much more research on this fascinating subject. If you’d like to learn more about how you can bring an optimistic attitude to your organization, I’m a phone call or email away.

Oh, and one more thing, I hope you decide to have a great day! (Most optimists do)

This lack of training often leaves the people who are responsible for hiring feeling anxious and self- conscious. For almost thirty years I’ve worked with employers helping them improve their employee selection process. What follows are some of the most frequent mistakes that employers make.

Focusing on too many factors unrelated to the person’s ability to fit into your culture.
How often have you heard someone explain their decision to hire with the comment: “They seemed like such a really nice person.” or “ They seemed so smart.” or “There was just something about them I liked.” You’re goal in hiring someone is very simple.
You want four questions answered:
· Will you make me look good?
· Will you work well with the people who are already here?
· Do I like you enough to hang around you for eight hours?
· Can you do the work?
Let’s look at each of these.

Will you make me look good?
The last thing a hiring person wants to hear from a superior is, “What were you thinking when you hired that person? Was it just too calm around here? Were we getting along too well?” The last thing a hiring person wants to hear from a customer is, “Where did you get that person?” No one is going to intentionally hire someone who will make him or her look bad regardless of how talented the person may be.

Will you work well with the people who are already here?
Managing people is like balancing a very delicate equation. When you add a new “variable,” it changes the people equation. Employers want to hire people who will fit into the existing culture. I often tell people there are three reasons to get along with your coworkers: They were there first. There are more of them. They’ll “kill you” if you don’t behave.

Do I like you enough to hang around you for eight hours?
We spend more time with our coworkers than with our loved ones. I once had a conversation with a newspaper editor. She was recounting a story about a woman who had applied for a reporting job. “She had worked for Time Magazine, Newsweek, and The Washington Post. She had the most impressive resume I had ever seen. She was also one of the most obnoxious people I had ever met. I wouldn’t have hired her if you paid me.”

Can you do the work?
Of course this is a critical question. However, if the employer is convinced you will make him look good, will work well with the people that are already there, and are the kind of person he can be around all day; he may make allowances for your background. While you will still need to have some specific skills, your ability to fit into the culture should not be underestimated.
*****************

Hiring People Who Replicate You Rather than Compliment You

The truth of the matter is that many of us think the world would be a far better place if everyone were more like us. Then, we wouldn’t have to communicate so much and people would do things the “right” way (i.e. our way). If we are the kind of people who pay attention to details, then we believe everyone should focus on details. If we see the big picture, others should see it too. The problem with this is obvious. Big picture people, by definition, often miss the details and detail people often have no idea what the larger purpose is. The goal in building an effective team is to hire people that compliment each other’s skills. A detail follow-through person is the person who makes the big picture person’s ideas a reality. Without the big picture, there is nothing on which to follow-through.

Failing to find out if the person likes the job they will be performing

There is nothing quite like getting up each day and fighting traffic to come work to do a job you don’t like. There is a direct correlation between how much you enjoy your job and how well you perform. Generally speaking, if you like something enough you’ll be good enough and if you don’t you won’t. For some reason it does not dawn on many interviewers to simply ask the applicant: “Do you think you’ll like this job and why?”

Failing to verify the employee’s technical skills

There is often so much focus in the interview on where someone worked and what they did that the prospective employer simply takes an applicant’s word that they have certain technical skills.
How often have you seen a resume that read “Proficient in Word, PowerPoint and Excel?” Proficient” according to what criteria?
Once upon a time when someone was hiring a secretary, they would give that person a typing test to see how many words a minute they could type. It worked very well as a means of determining a person’s technical ability.
You can do a version of that with the person you are interviewing. If they claim a skill, ask them for a demonstration.

Hiring out of desperation

The work is backing up. We’re stretched too thin. I just need someone. Ever felt that way? If so, be careful. People desperate for a relationship often romanticize things about someone they meet giving them attributes they don’t possess. The hiring person can do the same thing. In your zeal to solve a labor shortage problem, you may be creating many more problems. A person who is a bad fit can alter the group chemistry, negatively affect morale and alienate clients and customers. As hard as it is, doing without until a qualified person can be found makes more sense.

Hiring is a necessary evil for some but necessary nevertheless. Understanding and avoiding some of these common mistakes can make a potentially difficult process much more bearable.
The payoff of hiring a good employee that fits into your culture and adds value is well worth the time and effort you put into learning new ways of thinking about the hiring process.

This past month I saw and learned a lot. So in no particular order, here are some observations and comments:

The older we get the more we like to complicate the simple.

On at least three or four occasions this month, I observed clients deciding it was appropriate to be unkind, unfair, or go back on their word. When I asked these folks to help me understand their behaviors, the typical response was “it’s not that simple.”

Yes it is.

Right is still right.

Wrong is still wrong.

And how your mother told you to act is still correct.

And all the “it’s not that simples” in the world will not change that.

Stop telling people you’re busy.

I lost track of the number of times this month I heard the phrase: “I’m busy.”

Some random thoughts on “busy.”

People who use the word “busy” act as if they have:

a) Invented a concept

Or

b) Made an earth-shattering discovery.

Newsflash: EVERYONE IS BUSY.

So we don’t need to point out our busyness to anyone.

Anymore.

Ever again.

We ALL think we’re reasonable.

Sure we are. That’s why other people are so frustrating at times. Because we’re reasonable and they’re not. If only others would see the error of their ways, life would be much easier for all of us.

Nice try.

The problem is that the other side is thinking the same thing about themselves. They are the reasonable ones. We are the unreasonable ones.

Just knowing this basic assumption can help transform communication.

What would happen to relationships if we were open to the possibility that on occasion we are actually unreasonable?

(Numbers of times this month I saw people—including me—get in trouble because of this one.)

It’s not control we want, it’s certainty.

I deal with this one whenever I’m working with owners and key decision makers.

We all have a need for certainty—predictability—in our lives. When we go to start the car, we expect it to start. When someone makes an appointment, we expect them to show up, etc. If, however, we have too much certainty in our lives it can become too predictable and ultimately boring. When that happens, we seek out some uncertainty or variety. Too much variety, though, can make our lives chaotic bringing us back to the search for certainty and the cycle begins all over again.

Some people need more variety in their lives, and some of us need more predictability or certainty.

People who need an enormous amount of certainty often try to meet that need by attempting to control their environment. In the extreme, they will sometimes even try to control other people’s behavior. They don’t really want to control events or the behavior of others; they simply want to make sure their world is operating in an orderly fashion and believe this is the only way to accomplish that. If you can convince them they can still have the outcomes they desire without having to monitor a situation, they are often more than happy to let go of the control.

(Maybe that will help you have a little more compassion and patience the next time you become frustrated with a “control freak.”)

We are most frustrated not when people disagree with us but when we feel people don’t understand or don’t try to understand us.

This I believe is at the heart of most communication problems. We feel people just don’t get us. When we “zig,” they “zag.”

This past month the father of a dear friend passed away at the age of ninety.

He was a master at making people feel understood.

His secret?

He really, really listened.

When he asked, “How are you?” he really wanted to know how you were. And he wanted to know the details.

His eye contact, his body language, and his questions all reflected his interest.

And when you finished speaking with him, you truly felt understood.

It’s a wonderful gift. Take the time to give the gift and watch how it can transform a conversation.

Don’t tell people “I know how you feel.”

You’re in your own head all day and I bet half the time you don’t know how YOU’RE feeling. And I believe you have never been in another person’s head for even a day. That being the case, you can’t possibly know how another person feels. You may know what it feels like for you to be scared, frustrated, confused, etc., but you don’t know what that feels like for another person.

So stop telling them you do.

(I see this one multiple times a month.)

The signs to look for to determine if you have an employee who is not as advertised and what to do about it are the subject of this month’s article.

A Tale of Two Employees

Ben and Robert

Robert is a talented technical writer. He is also a source of frustration to his boss, Ben. I had been asked to spend time with Ben to see if I could help him communicate more effectively with Robert.

“What was the source of your frustration?” I asked Ben.

“Robert doesn’t do what I ask him to do!” Ben responded.

“Does he understand what you’re talking about?” I asked.

“Oh yes,” Ben responded. “He just makes mistakes because he rushes through things.” “What else does he do that bothers you?” I inquired further.

“He always seems to blame someone else. Either I didn’t explain the task correctly or someone else didn’t do their part,” he explained.

“Out of every ten things you ask him to do, how many come back exactly the way you want?” I queried.

“Two out of ten,” Ben replied.

Clearly, batting two hundred doesn’t cut it in any league.

Lisa and Pam

Lisa is at her wits end with her administrative aid, Pam.

“She is really experienced,” explained Lisa.

”She came highly recommended, and she was one of the best interviews I ever had—so personable and confident,” Lisa added.

“Then what’s the problem?” I asked.

“I have to correct everything she does! She gets things done quickly but there are always mistakes,” Lisa responded.

(Hmm. Seems like I’ve heard this before.)

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Yes, she tells me I never explain what I want and that when there are mistakes it’s because of someone else,” Lisa stated.

I asked Lisa the same question that I had asked Robert: “Out every ten things you ask your employee to do, how many come back exactly the way you want?”

Lisa’s response: “Zero come back exactly the way I want.”

What’s going on?

So what’s going on here? I think at there are at least three problems:

I believe that while they are probably bright, neither Robert nor Pam have the level of expertise they originally claimed.

I believe they both know it and are afraid of being found out, which is why they spend so much time making excuses and blaming others.

I believe Ben and Lisa have been sold a bill of goods and are trying to rationalize what has happened rather than admit their employees are “not as advertised.”

The signs

Want to avoid making this mistake?

These are the warning signs that your employee may not have all the abilities they claim to have:

• They initially are very personable and appear quite confident.
• They are typically between 25 and 35 years old.
• They have had some work experience in the field.
• They often claim to have made significant contributions in their previous jobs but that has not been confirmed.
• When asked why they left their last job they will often say they were not appreciated or their professional growth
  was being hampered.
• They seldom if ever admit they don’t understand something.
• They seldom if ever admit they were wrong.
• When they make mistakes, they will first deny the mistake; but if pressed, will blame you for giving them poor direction or blame another person. They may even lie.
• They tend to be fast but not particularly accurate.
• Other employees don’t like them.

What to do?

If you have, or think you have, such an employee, the ideas mentioned below may help:

The goal should be to retain the employee if possible. You will, however, need to find ways to assess their knowledge level while still allowing them to save face.

First, learn to ignore their attempts to change the subject. If they tell you that you didn’t explain something properly, don’t argue. Offer to restate what you said, and make sure they can repeat the conversation back to you. If they claim another employee didn’t do something, offer to bring the coworker in so the misunderstanding can be addressed.

Meet with them daily for at least two weeks. Outline what you want them to do and what you don’t want them to do. After two weeks, meet with them twice a week; after that time, you should be able to meet weekly.

Be solution oriented. Tell them the behavior you want rather than the behavior you don’t like.

Stress accuracy first and speed second.

Reassure them that it’s OK to make mistakes and it’s OK to tell you if they don’t understand something.

Monitor this process for a month to six weeks. If you don’t see noticeable improvement, you’ll probably need to begin the process of replacing them.

The Bottom Line

If you have to replace an employee who was not as advertised, consider it a learning experience.

Learn your lessons and move on.

When it comes to hiring talent, no one “bats a thousand.”